New Delhi, Feb. 10 -- Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said the USD 100 billion FDI commitment made by EFTA bloc under a free trade agreement could help in catalysing as much as USD 400-500 billion investment proposals in the Indian ecosystem.

The pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), is expected to come into force by the end of this year, he said.

The EFTA (European Free Trade Association) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

"With this USD 100 billion FDI, I personally believe that we could be catalysing overall investments of may be USD 400 or USD 500 billion in the Indian ecosystem," Goyal said here after the launch of EFTA Dedicated Desk.

The Desk will act as a centralized support mechanism for EFTA companies looking to expand in India. It will provide market insights and regulatory guidance, business matchmaking, and assistance in navigating India's policy and investment landscape.

The setting up of the Desk is important as under the pact, India has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties. The investment aims to facilitate the creation of one million jobs.

This is a first-of-its-kind pledge agreed upon in any of the trade deals signed by India so far. "In all the four countries, significant steps have been taken to ratify the TEPA and we hope to operationalise the TEPA in the later part of this year," Goyal added.

The minister also said that the one million direct jobs could help in creating 5-6 million jobs directly and indirectly.

He also said that India has offered EFTA countries an opportunity to have dedicated enclaves in either the 20 industrial smart cities, being developed by NICDC (National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Ltd), or in the 100 industrial hub and spoke model areas announced in Budget.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.