India, Jan. 24 -- New Delhi

The proposed India-European Union (EU) free trade agreement (FTA) may allow duty-free access to over 90% of Indian goods in the bloc while shielding India's sensitive dairy and agricultural items, two people aware of the matter said.

They added that the EU's preferential trade mechanism --- or the generalised system of preferences (GSP) --- will become irrelevant after the operationalisation of the proposed FTA. The suspension of the preferential trade mechanism currently impacts less than 3% of Indian exports to the European bloc.

Both India and the EU have agreed to conclude a "balanced, ambitious, mutually beneficial and economically meaningful" FTA that must include "enhanced market access" to ensure pro...