The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) between India and Australia come into effect to give duty-free access to a variety of goods in various industries from December 29. As the India-Australia ECTA entered into force, Union Minister Piyush Goyal conducted a press conference. “Australia, which is largely dependent on imports, will benefit hugely, they will soon start seeing a lot more finished goods coming in from India, providing huge amount of work and job opportunities in both goods and services provided by Indian talent,” the Minister said. ECTA brings together two biggest economies India, the fifth-largest economy in the world, and Australia, the 14th-largest, are brought together by the Indo-Australia Trade Pact. India and Australia's combined bilateral trade is anticipated to increase from its current $ 31 billion to $ 45 to $50 billion in 5 years. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry projects a $10 billion increase in India's exports of goods by 2026–2027. What is ECTA? India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, also known as ECTA, on April 2, 2022. Later, on November 21, 2022, it was approved. After exchanging written notices of the agreement on November 29, 2022, it is now taking effect. More than 85% of Australian exports to India are now free of tariffs thanks to the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement. This includes important exports like titanium dioxide, wool, lamb, barley, oats, fresh rock lobsters, cosmetics, and numerous metallic ores. Trade Products – Additional 5% of exports are subject to reduced or eliminated tariffs over the course of six years, including macadamia nuts, avocados, berries, seafood, pharmaceuticals, cochlear implants, vitamins, infant formula, breakfast cereals, pasta, sandalwood chips, pumps and fillers, and mining machinery lifting parts. Taxes on expensive wines, lentils, almonds, oranges, and strawberries have been significantly reduced. 1st FTA with a developed country after a decade The India Australia ECTA opens up trade between the two nations. A market of 1.4 billion people and one of the world's fastest-growing major economies, namely India, are now available to Australian stakeholders. It is the only agreement that completely eliminates duties; according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Australia will not impose customs duties on any of the tariff lines. Australia has made broad commitments in about 135 subsectors on the services side. Along with the FTA with Australia, India also operationalized its FTA with the UAE this year. In 2022, the Center will have established two trade agreements. To boost India’s labour-intensive sectors The majority of the two countries' producers, processors, and consumers will profit from this agreement. It is important that the trade agreement will benefit India's education, pharmaceutical, and tourism industries. The labour-intensive industries in India that make textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, furniture, food and agricultural products, engineering products, and medical devices stand to gain from it. Additionally, this will end the double taxation on IT services that was harming our ability to compete and reduce our profitability. According to Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the end of double taxation for the IT sector on April 1 will result in savings of over a billion dollars, a competitive advantage, and the creation of numerous jobs. See also: Australian parliament passes Free Trade Agreement with IndiaIndia-Australia free trade agreement in effect from December 29