After the India-UK Complete Financial and Commerce Settlement (CETA) signed at this time, scotch whisky imports from the UK are set to get cheaper for Indian shoppers, with tariffs slashed from 150 per cent to 75 per cent. The landmark settlement doesn’t impose minimal import value (MIP) guidelines on scotch imports, which had been a key demand of India’s home trade.
Beneath the settlement, India will instantly cut back tariffs by half to 75 per cent, after which to 40 per cent over ten years, as soon as the deal is ratified domestically by the 2 international locations.
Scotch distillers within the UK have welcomed the discount in tariffs, which is able to give them better entry to the world’s greatest whisky market by quantity. Whisky was the UK’s fifth-largest export product to India in 2024-25, valued at roughly $260 million.
“The deal will assist long run funding and jobs in our distilleries in Speyside and our bottling plant at Kilmalid and assist ship development in each Scotland and India over the subsequent decade,” mentioned Jean-Etienne Gourgues, chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers, the agency behind well-liked whisky manufacturers comparable to Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s.
India’s home alcoholic beverage trade, nonetheless, has flagged potential dumping issues with the discount in tariffs.
“Although reducing of import responsibility on Scotch will assist the home trade—as Scotch used to supply blended merchandise may also get cheaper—we hope that the federal government will be certain that Scotch whisky and different spirits (BIO-bottled in origin) should not dumped at low import costs or routed by means of some other nation at cheaper charges, which might damage the YOY development of premium and luxurious Indian manufacturers,” mentioned Anant S Iyer, director-general of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Firms (CIABC), hours earlier than the total textual content of the settlement was made public.
To counter dumping, Iyer mentioned the trade had really useful to the federal government to introduce MIP guidelines for scotch. Nevertheless, the settlement doesn’t impose any such necessities on scotch imports.
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“With the import responsibility being reduce drastically, it’s excessive time that a lot of state governments finish all concessions—comparable to decrease model registration charges, lowered excise duties, and so on.—presently prolonged to BIO manufacturers,” Iyer mentioned.
“This has created a state of affairs the place importing Alcobev merchandise is turning into cheaper than producing it in India. With decrease import duties, it’ll now develop into much more economical for MNC’s to import their merchandise. State governments ought to finish all discrimination in opposition to India-made alcoholic drinks,” he added in a media word.
Iyer additionally flagged lack of market entry for Indian-made overseas liquor within the UK and EU as a result of non-tariff obstacles associated to maturation and components. “Although Indian whiskies, rum, gins, wines, and so on., have been successful accolades globally, the shortage of removing of non-tariff obstacles and absence of reciprocal market entry will make this export goal exhausting to attain,” he mentioned.
Whereas tariffs on Indian exports of drinks, spirits, and vinegar have been eradicated totally, non-tariff obstacles are more likely to stay.
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Opening up the Indian market to overseas liquor has been a contentious concern in commerce talks, together with these ongoing with the US and the EU. Earlier in February, when the federal government had slashed responsibility on bourbon whisky – a key US export – from 150 per cent to 50 per cent, the home trade urged states to withdraw all excise concessions given to imported liquor, arguing that the customs responsibility cuts would hurt Indian merchandise in each the spirits and wine classes.