Key Details
The Haryana–UK CETA Trade Bridge, held in Gurugram on 14 September 2026, connected the national trade agreement with the state’s export and investment plans.
Target sectors: Textiles, footwear, gems and jewellery, engineering, agriculture and food processing.
Agreement status: The India–UK CETA has been operational since 15 July 2026, providing zero-duty access for nearly 99% of Indian exports by tariff line.
Haryana’s exports: The state government reports an increase from approximately $12 billion in 2019–20 to $19 billion in 2025–26.
Business facilitation: Haryana’s Foreign Cooperation Department has been designated as the state-level contact for trade, investment and international partnerships.
Wider state targets: The Haryana Progressive MSME and Export Promotion Policy 2026 seeks to attract more than ₹55,000 crore, create over five lakh jobs and double the state’s exports.
Investment outreach: The next Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit is scheduled for 5–7 April 2027.
Haryana Moves from Trade Agreement to Export Outreach
The India–UK CETA is already in force; the Gurugram programme marked Haryana’s effort to connect exporters, investors and state agencies with the commercial opportunities created by lower UK tariffs.
Textiles, footwear, jewellery and engineering were identified as immediate areas of interest. Agriculture and food processing were also included in discussions with UK representatives, alongside cooperation in technology, education, skills and advanced manufacturing.
The state’s challenge is now FTA utilisation: enabling firms to identify eligible products, satisfy rules of origin, meet UK standards and claim preferential tariffs when consignments are exported.
An Existing Export Base Gives the State Something to Build On
Haryana’s reported exports increased by about 58% between 2019–20 and 2025–26, from $12 billion to $19 billion. Its principal industrial centres offer different routes into the UK market:
Panipat: Textiles and home furnishings;
Faridabad and Manesar: Engineering, automotive components and manufacturing;
Gurugram: Business services, technology and Global Capability Centres; and
Agricultural districts: Food processing and value-added farm products.
CETA can improve the price competitiveness of qualifying goods, but the gains will vary by product. Firms must still compete on quality, scale, certification, delivery reliability and buyer relationships.
The state release does not provide sector-level export baselines, estimates of the tariff savings available to Haryana firms or confirmed export orders resulting from the Trade Bridge. These will be needed to determine whether the outreach changes trade performance.
The UK Pitch Forms Part of a Larger Investment Campaign
The Trade Bridge was also used to promote Haryana’s industrial-policy package and the Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit 2027. The state has announced policies covering semiconductors, electronics, artificial intelligence, data centres, medical devices, automobiles, electric vehicles, agribusiness and Global Capability Centres.
Its broader objectives include attracting ₹5 lakh crore in fresh investment and creating more than 10 lakh jobs by 2030–31. These are policy targets rather than investments or employment already realised.
CETA adds a market-access argument to this investment pitch: companies producing in Haryana could potentially serve both the Indian and UK markets. Whether this attracts new production will depend on sector-specific economics, supply chains and compliance costs rather than tariff access alone.
What Is the India–UK CETA?
The India–United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is a free trade agreement covering goods, services, investment-related provisions, government procurement, intellectual property and other areas of economic cooperation.
Preferential tariffs are available only when goods satisfy the agreement’s rules of origin, which determine whether sufficient production or value addition occurred in India. Exporters must therefore understand both the UK tariff concession and the documentation required to claim it.
Policy Relevance
For Haryana, CETA implementation needs to move from general outreach to cluster-level export support.
Translate tariff schedules product by product: Exporters need to know which Haryana products gain a meaningful advantage over competitors, not simply that the agreement covers most tariff lines.
Build compliance into cluster support: Testing, certification, packaging, traceability and rules-of-origin documentation will be especially important for MSMEs and food exporters.
Track utilisation rather than announcements: Useful indicators would include Haryana’s UK-bound exports, preferential certificates issued, MSME participation, rejected claims, new buyers and jobs created.
Connect trade and investment facilitation: The Foreign Cooperation Department, Industries and Commerce Department, DGFT, export-promotion bodies and industrial associations need a common referral process for firms seeking market, regulatory or investment assistance.
The agreement’s value to Haryana will ultimately be measured by additional exports and investment, rather than the number of outreach programmes, MoUs or participating firms.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: Which Haryana products receive the largest competitive advantage under the India–UK CETA, and what certification, scale or logistics constraints could prevent local MSMEs from using it?
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