India is set to conclude negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Chile soon, a pact that is expected to significantly enhance access to critical minerals essential for the country’s manufacturing and clean energy ambitions, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.
Addressing an event in Greater Noida, Goyal said the proposed agreement would open up reliable supply chains for key minerals such as lithium, copper, rhenium, molybdenum and cobalt, resources that are central to the electronics, automotive and solar power industries. Chile is among the world’s largest holders of these strategic minerals.
India and Chile currently operate under a preferential trade agreement signed in 2006. The ongoing negotiations aim to expand this arrangement into a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), covering a wider range of sectors, including digital services, investment cooperation, MSMEs and critical minerals.
Despite longstanding trade ties, bilateral trade volumes between the two countries remain modest. In 2024–25, India’s exports to Chile fell 2.46 per cent to $1.15 billion, while imports surged 72 per cent to $2.60 billion, underlining the scope for recalibration through a broader trade framework.
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Goyal said India had, over the past four years, finalised trade agreements with eight developed countries and blocs, expanding market access across Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific. These agreements, he noted, cover 32 European nations, including members of the European Free Trade Association and the European Union, as well as the United Kingdom.
He said such partnerships were creating opportunities for skilled Indian professionals, particularly as many developed economies face workforce shortages in sectors where India holds a competitive edge.
The minister also criticised free trade agreements signed during the UPA era, arguing that they resulted in widening trade deficits and failed to adequately protect Indian business interests. In an increasingly uncertain global economic environment, he said, only countries willing to take bold decisions would succeed.
“India today stands as an oasis in a desert,” Goyal said, pointing to the country’s growing role in global trade and supply chains.
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