India-EU Free Trade Agreement secures expanded market access across 144 sub-sectors for Indian service providers.

Key facts

• The European Union (EU) has committed to expanded and commercially significant access across 144 sub-sectors including IT/ITeS, professional services, other business services and education services.
• National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) stated the FTA will ease cross-border delivery for India’s IT exporters and strengthen digital trade while ensuring safeguards for privacy, security and public policy.
• Nasscom expects the agreement to drive higher European investment into India’s IT ecosystem and enable joint ventures and R&D partnerships in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, clean technologies and startups.
• Rohit Jain, Managing Partner at Singhania & Co, said the FTA provides Intellectual Property (IP) certainty that encourages European MNCs to shift core technology development to their Indian Global Capability Centres (GCCs).
• Alignment between India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) could reduce regulatory friction and enable seamless real-time integration between European headquarters and Indian GCCs.