Indian-made towels that dry Centre Court champions at Wimbledon are among the goods poised to flow more freely to Britain after a landmark trade deal came into effect on Wednesday. Welspun Living, the home textile giant that supplies championship towels to the All England Club as well as bedsheets and towels to major British high-street retailers, has been preparing for months. “Many of these brands have been in India in recent weeks to chart a business roadmap for the next few years,” said Dipali Goenka, CEO of Welspun Living. “We typically did joint forward planning only for our US customers, but now, with the deal, it’s happening with UK clients too.”
The free trade agreement between the world’s fifth and sixth largest economies removes or reduces tariffs on 99% of Indian exports to the UK and 90% of UK imports into India. The British government has called it “the UK’s biggest and most economically significant bilateral trade pact” since leaving the EU, estimating a 0.13% increase in GDP – equivalent to £4.8bn – and a 0.06% boost for India, or £5.1bn per year in the long run. Labour-heavy sectors such as textiles, garments, footwear, cars and marine products are counting on the agreement to spur growth.
“India-UK free trade deal takes effect, cutting tariffs on 99% of Indian exports and 90% of UK imports.”
Goenka expects her company’s exports to the UK to “now grow in double digits”, noting that India had been at a disadvantage compared with Bangladesh and Pakistan, whose exports entered the UK duty-free through the Developing Countries Trading Scheme while India paid 12% tariffs. “If you look at just home textiles, Pakistan’s share of UK exports are at around 55%, whereas India’s is just 6-7%. That’s the gap we can finally cover,” she said.
The pact could also be a tipping point for British alcohol and spirits companies. The reduction of customs duties on Scotch whisky from 150% to 75% immediately and then gradually to 40% over 10 years is a “real shift, not a small tweak”, said Avneet Singh of Modern Drinks Pvt Ltd, an import house based in New Delhi. Singh said momentum has been building ahead of the new terms taking effect, with focus on operational readiness: “working closely with UK suppliers to ensure certificates of origin and other trade documentation are in place, reviewing customs and compliance requirements, and co-ordinating with logistics and clearing partners so shipments can benefit from the revised tariff structure from day one”.
Negotiations began in 2022 and the deal was formally signed in July 2026. How much the tariff reductions will immediately boost imports of whisky and other goods will become clearer in the coming months, but for Indian textile exporters long locked out of a level playing field, the change is already tangible.