India, July 25 -- India and the UK have signed a historic free trade agreement (FTA). Coming on the heels of India's other key FTAs with Australia and the UAE, the India-UK FTA promises to give a significant boost to the existing bilateral trade of $56 billion between the two countries. Spanning 30 chapters and comprehensively covering a wide range of issues, from trade in goods and services to labour, environment, and gender, the FTA is a new deal for businesses and people in India and the UK.

India's labour-intensive sectors, such as textiles, leather, gems, and jewellery, are going to be significant beneficiaries of this FTA, as the UK will eliminate its tariff rates on these products. India, on its part, will lower tariff rates for p...