The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will come into effect on Tuesday, marking India’s seventh operational trade pact in five years that will eliminate tariffs on Indian exports, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.
“We will start tomorrow on the auspicious day of Dusshera,” Goyal said, referring to the ongoing Hindu festival of Navratri that culminates in Dussehra.
Under the pact, Indian merchandise exports to New Zealand will be duty-free. He also told a gathering of Indian exporters that New Zealand has committed $20 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in India over the next 15 years.
New Zealand trade minister Todd McClay, who virtually joined the event to mark the operationalisation of the FTA on Tuesday, said 57% of New Zealand exports to India would be tariff-free from day one.
At present, New Zealand has peak tariffs of up to 10% on key Indian goods such as ceramics, carpets, automobiles, and auto components.
Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said this was the seventh FTA operationalised in five years and would help the two countries to double their bilateral trade to ₹35,000 crore by 2030.
The FTA also provides a comprehensive framework for bilateral economic cooperation, covering market access, agricultural productivity, investment, talent mobility, and collaboration in sports, tourism, and people-to-people ties, a commerce ministry official said.
The agreement would also boost India’s services exports. It would open opportunities for India to emerge as a key supplier of skilled workforce alongside prospects for cooperation in areas such as ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy (AYUSH), yoga Instructors, chefs, and music teachers, IT, engineering, healthcare, education, and construction, he said.
The official said New Zealand investors would get a competitive manufacturing environment in India and a vast market. India is setting up dedicated investment facilitation desks to help investors from the country.
McClay said that the New Zealand-India FTA would “level the playing field and unlock access for Kiwi businesses in one of the fastest growing markets” in the world.
For New Zealand, the agreement unlocks immediate tariff relief on 57% of its exports to India, including timber, wool, sheep meat, and coal. Tariffs on New Zealand wines, currently set at 150%, will be gradually reduced over a decade.
New Zealand exports include sheep meat, wool and coal, as well as over 95% of forestry and wood exports. Kiwi exporters will also benefit from preferential quota access into India for New Zealand albumins, apples and kiwifruit. New Zealand exporters will receive preferential quota access for apples, kiwifruit and albumins. Wine tariffs will fall from 150% to either 25% or 50% over 10 years, depending on product value, New Zealand said in a statement.
Goyal said India fully protected domestic farmers’ interests and the dairy sector while selectively leveraging New Zealand’s strength in efficient farming practices.
India has also kept onions, chickpeas, peas, corn, almonds, artificial honey and sugar out of the FTA.
Citing kiwi fruit cultivation and Manuka honey, Goyal said Indian farmers could benefit from technology transfer, improved pollination methods and modern beekeeping systems.
McClay said the FTA was a “high quality agreement” at a time of global economic uncertainties, and would give confidence to business communities of the two nations.
India and New Zealand signed the FTA on April 27, wrapping up negotiations that began on March 16, 2025, in just nine months. Both sides completed ratification formalities on September 21.