India-Oman trade pact to boost investments, job creation: Piyush Goyal
New Delhi, June 1
As the India‑Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement came into force on Monday, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the agreement will significantly benefit India.
Goyal took to a social media platform, X, describing the agreement as a defining milestone in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mission to create global pathways to prosperity for students, artisans, women, farmers, fishermen and MSMEs by opening new markets, boosting exports, attracting investments, and accelerating job creation.
The CEPA immediately grants 100 per cent duty‑free market access in Oman to 98 per cent of tariff lines covering 99.38 per cent of India's exports to that market, up from the pre‑CEPA system of zero‑duty access for 15.3 per cent of exports.
Goyal said that goods facing a 5 per cent import duty in Oman, worth around $3.64 billion in exports, will become more competitive.
Sectors dominated by small businesses such as iron and steel, textiles, leather, auto components and industrial equipment, could see large international orders after the agreement.
"Increased textiles exports to Oman will boost production and create jobs across major clusters such as Tirupur, Surat, Ludhiana, Panipat, Coimbatore, Karur, Moradabad, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad. Artisans and weavers across India will also gain from higher international demand for their products," he said.
All major labour-intensive sectors, including gems & jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural products, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and automobiles, receive full tariff elimination.
India is offering tariff liberalisation on 77.79 per cent of its total tariff lines, which covers 94.81 per cent of India's imports from Oman by value. For the products of export interest to Oman and which are sensitive to India, the offer is mostly a tariff-rate quota (TRQ)-based tariff liberalisation.
To safeguard its interest, sensitive products have been kept in the exclusion category by India without offering any concessions, especially agricultural products, including dairy, tea, coffee, rubber, and tobacco products; gold and silver bullion, jewellery; other labour-intensive products such as footwear, sports goods; and scrap of many base metals.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good to see the government focusing on job creation through trade pacts. But I worry about the omission of dairy and agriculture – our farmers need these protections. Hope the safeguards are strong enough.
As an Indian living abroad, I see how trade pacts like this boost our reputation. Oman is a key Gulf partner – this will strengthen ties and open doors for more Indian professionals in the region.
Finally some concrete action for MSMEs! The gems & jewellery sector has been struggling with high tariffs – this could be a game-changer for Karur and Surat. But we need to ensure the benefits reach the actual craftsmen, not just big exporters.
Impressive that 98% of tariff lines are now duty-free! This is the kind of bold diplomacy we need. Our auto component and pharmaceutical sectors could see huge growth. Let's hope the execution matches the ambition.
Good initiative but I hope there's strong monitoring. History shows trade pacts benefit large firms more than small artisans. We need policies that actually help weavers in Varanasi and farmers in Punjab, not just corporate balance sheets.
This is exactly what Make in India needs! Textiles, leather, and engineering goods from our clusters will now have a real
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