India: International Trade & Investment

The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (‘CETA’), signed on 24.07.2025, marks an important step towards a more modern, efficient and trusted framework for bilateral trade. For Indian importers, one of its most significant innovations is the transition from authority-issued certificates of origin to exporter or producer self-certification. This shift is a welcome development for industry, as it places greater reliance on commercial documentation, supports faster trade flows and aligns origin procedures with contemporary supply-chain practices.

Supreme Court holds that, by virtue of omission of rule 96(10) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (CGST Rules) (which restricted assessees availing benefit of certain duty exemption schemes on import of goods, from undertaking export on payment of IGST and claiming refund thereof), all pending proceedings shall stand concluded; observes that the rule resulted in unnecessary complications and its omission must not result in such complications being kept alive, insofar as the pending proceedings were concerned.

India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi this weekend, where member nations navigate competing priorities: Russia seeks to demonstrate global relevance despite Western isolation, China and India work to strengthen their diplomatic thaw, and New Delhi pushes for digital currency integration while avoiding a common BRICS currency. Can the bloc maintain unity amid Brazilian elections, the Iran war, economic pressures, and members' diverging relationships with the US and other Western powers?

Most of the commentary on the India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has stayed focused on cars, textiles, and services. Chemicals rarely make the headline list. India already has real capability in specialty chemicals, agrochemicals, pharmaceutical intermediates, dyes, and pigments, and the UK brings a mature chemicals and life-sciences ecosystem with genuine demand on the other side.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, operating through its Trade and International Cooperation Division, has issued a significant public notice that carries important implications for the import community across the country.

The automobile sector has emerged as one of the most closely watched industries under the recently concluded India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

In this modern world, regulatory compliance has become a vital element of international business operations. India’s foreign trade policies are defined by a select set of regulatory requirements. Import Export Code (IEC) issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is the unique identification number for every importer and exporter of the nation. While IEC has always been a mandatory requirement, its relevancy has significantly improved in the digital commerce era.

India and the United Kingdom concluded negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) on 6 May 2025, following 14 rounds of talks initiated in January 2022. The CETA was formally signed in London on 24 July 2025 by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal and the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds. Besides the CETA, a Double Contribution Convention (DCC), addressing social security contributions for Indian workers temporarily working in the UK, was signed separately on 10 February 2026.

Under FEMA, the rules related to investment by a person resident outside India in an Indian company are provided under Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 (‘NDI Rules’).