On November 24, India and the GCC will begin discussions for a free trade agreement

In order to strengthen economic ties between the two regions, India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are anticipated to begin negotiations for a free trade agreement on November 24.

GCC is an association of six Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain.

"November 24 will mark the beginning of the FTA. The talks will begin with the presence of GCC officials "said the official.

A free trade agreement between India and the UAE was already put into effect in May of this year.

On November 16, Piyush Goyal, India's minister of commerce and industry, announced that the country would be announcing a new free trade agreement (FTA) the following week.

This would be a sort of continuation of the two previous rounds of FTA negotiations between India and the GCC, which took place in 2006 and 2008. The GCC postponed its negotiations with all nations and economic groups, preventing a third round from taking place.

India primarily imports crude oil and natural gas from the Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and exports to these nations electrical machinery, iron, steel, chemicals, pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, metals, and imitation jewelry.

According to figures from the commerce ministry, India's exports to the GCC increased by 58.26% to around USD 44 billion in 2021–2022 compared to USD 27.8 billion in 2020–2021

The overall exports from India to these six nations increased from 9.51 percent in 2020–21 to 10.4 percent in 2021–22. In a similar vein, imports increased by 85.8% to USD 110.73 billion from USD 59.6 billion in 2020–21, according to the data.

GCC members' percentage of all imports into India increased from 15.5 percent in 2020–21 to 18 percent in 2021–22.

From USD 87.4 billion in 2020–2021 to USD 154.73 billion in 2021–2022 is the increase in bilateral trade.

In addition to trade, the Gulf region is home to a sizable Indian population. Nearly half of the 32 million non-resident Indians (NRIs) are thought to be employed in Gulf states.

These NRIs frequently send large sums of money home.

The World Bank reported in November 2021 that India received USD 87 billion in international remittances in 2021. A sizable amount of this comes from the GCC countries.

Last fiscal year, Saudi Arabia was India's fourth-largest trading partner. India buys 8.5 million tonnes of LNG from Qatar each year and exports goods like wheat, meat, fish, chemicals, and plastics.

In the most recent fiscal year, Kuwait was India's 27th-largest commercial partner, while the UAE was its third-largest trading partner in 2021–2022.