ECTA 3rd Anniv: Trade Between India, Australia Increases

New Delhi: India and Australia marked the third anniversary of their Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), showing a significant rise in trade between the two nations. Acknowledging the development, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that the move would open up fresh opportunities for India’s labour-intensive sectors, as the two countries marked the third anniversary of the bilateral trade pact.

With the deal, Indian exports to Australia will get a major boost with 100 per cent of Australian tariff lines set to move to zero duty under the India–Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) from January 1, 2026. “Over the past three years, the agreement has delivered sustained export growth, deeper market access, and stronger supply-chain resilience, benefiting Indian exporters, MSMEs, farmers, and workers alike,” Goyal said in a post on X.

The trade deal, which started three years ago, led to an 8 per cent growth in Indian exports to Australia during the 2024-25 fiscal year. This growth helped improve the overall trade balance for India. “The trade agreement brought strong gains to many different industries. These included manufacturing, chemicals, textiles, plastics, and pharmaceuticals. Petroleum products and the gems and jewellery sector also saw a rise in business. Specifically, exports for gems and jewellery increased by 16 per cent between April and November 2025,” Goyal noted.

It has been also observed that agricultural products from India have also found more buyers in Australia. There was broad growth in the sale of fruits, vegetables, marine products, and spices. Coffee exports showed especially high growth during this period. To make trading easier, both countries have signed a mutual recognition arrangement for organic products for smoother trade, cutting the costs that exporters have to pay to follow rules.