The India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement has been implemented, with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal highlighting its significant advantages for India. Goyal praised the agreement on a social media platform, emphasizing its role in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to enhance global opportunities for students, artisans, women, farmers, fishermen, and MSMEs by expanding markets, increasing exports, attracting investments, and fostering job growth.
The CEPA now provides 100% duty-free market access in Oman for 98% of tariff lines, covering 99.38% of India’s exports to the country, a substantial increase from the previous zero-duty access for 15.3% of exports. Goods previously subject to a 5% import duty in Oman, amounting to approximately $3.64 billion in exports, are expected to become more competitive under the agreement.
Various sectors, particularly those with a high presence of small businesses like iron and steel, textiles, leather, auto components, and industrial equipment, are anticipated to benefit from potential large international orders following the agreement. Increased textile exports to Oman are projected to stimulate production and job creation in key clusters such as Tirupur, Surat, Ludhiana, Panipat, Coimbatore, Karur, Moradabad, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad, benefiting artisans and weavers nationwide.
Labor-intensive sectors such as gems & jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural products, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and automobiles will experience complete tariff elimination under the agreement. India has offered tariff liberalization on 77.79% of its total tariff lines, covering 94.81% of imports from Oman by value. Sensitivity to Indian products has led to a tariff-rate quota (TRQ)-based tariff liberalization for products of export interest to Oman.
To protect its interests, India has excluded sensitive products from concessions, particularly agricultural items like dairy, tea, coffee, rubber, and tobacco products, as well as gold and silver bullion, jewelry, labor-intensive products such as footwear and sports goods, and various base metal scraps.
