Nagpur: Vidarbha exporters are now looking to the United Kingdom as a major market as the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which has now come into effect, gives near duty-free access to one of the world’s largest premium markets.The Nag Vidarbha Chamber of Commerce (NVCC), which represents 13 lakh traders in the region, said the pact would change the prospects of traders in the region. NVCC former president Ashwin Mehadia said, “Now that exports from Vidarbha to the United Kingdom are starting with reduced tariff, new avenues of international trade will open for traders in Vidarbha and the region will see greater economic growth.”As per Mehadia, the pact would also help local producers and give them pricing power.NVCC vice-president Swapnil Ahirkar said the region already had a diverse export base to build on. “Rice, pharma, textiles, minerals and other products are exported from Vidarbha, and now the region is emerging as a big hub for service exports,” Ahirkar said.Under CETA, 99% of India’s tariff lines will enter the UK duty-free from day one. Tariffs on gems and jewellery will fall from 4% to zero, on pharmaceuticals from 8% to zero, on iron and steel from 10% to zero, and on textiles from 12% to zero. Agricultural products get 95% duty-free access on agreed tariff lines.The pact has already begun to show results in the sector that matters most to Vidarbha traders. The first jewellery consignment worth about USD 10 million was shipped to the UK as CETA came into force, with 27 exporters from six major jewellery centres taking part. All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) chairperson Rajesh Rokde said, “The India-UK CETA is a historic milestone for the Indian gems and jewellery industry. It will play an important role in taking exports, investment, employment and India’s standing in the global market to new heights.”NVCC secretary Hemant Sarda said the region needed stronger support to make the most of the opening. Sarda said, “If the govt improves export infrastructure here, it will help increase exports of goods and services from Vidarbha. Trade agreements like CETA make products from here competitive.”The state has said the export drive had already reached districts beyond the industrial belt ahead of the pact. Principal secretary (industries) P Anbalagan, while speaking at the CETA announcement event in Mumbai on Wednesday, said, “Export is not just a mere phenomenon of urban prosperity and industrial establishments. It is a phenomenon across the state.”Anbalagan said close to 300 district export promotion council meetings were held across the state, including in Amravati, Nagpur and Akola, drawing about 1.5 lakh participants, and that the drive had extended to districts such as Gondia and Bhandara. He said around seven to nine districts accounted for more than 70% of the state’s exports, and the effort was to widen that base.At the Mumbai ceremony, CM Devendra Fadnavis said, “From Mumbai to Nagpur, from Pune to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, from Nashik to Ratnagiri and from Kolhapur to Gadchiroli, every region has the opportunity to participate in the new chapter of growth.”Trade between India and the UK stands at nearly USD 56 billion, with both sides aiming to double it by 2030.
