From Wimbledon towels to Scott: How the India-UK trade deal could transform trade.

The deal could be a turning point for British alcohol and spirits companies.

A reduction in customs duty on Scotch whiskey from 150% to 75% immediately and gradually to 40% over 10 years is “a real change, not a small change,” says Delhi-based Modern Beverages Pvt Ltd.

How much this will boost imports will be clear in the coming months, Singh said, although he noted the increase ahead of the new trade terms.

“The focus is on getting the operational side ready. This means working closely with UK suppliers to ensure certificates of origin and other trade documents are in place, reviewing customs and compliance requirements and coordinating with logistics and clearing partners so that shipments benefit from the revised tariff structure from day one,” Singh said.

So far, he said, it is a time of “careful preparation rather than rapid expansion.” Big changes will come after businesses see the real savings on imported goods.

Beyond these few pockets of industry, business experts say the overall impact of the deal is likely to be “incremental rather than transformative.”

According to data from the Delhi-based International Trade Research Initiative (GITRI), India’s It sent goods worth $13.4 billion to the UK in the 2025-2026 financial year, but more than half of those exports were imported duty-free by the most favored nation.

On the import side, India imported $11.7 billion from the UK, containing more than 45% silver, which remains on India’s exclusion list and is outside the agreement.

“The real test will be whether products that previously faced UK tariffs of 4-16% – such as textiles, clothing, shoes, carpets, cars, seafood, wine and mangoes – will see higher export orders, larger export volumes and better profit margins. Those indicators will provide the clearest evidence of the deal’s success. The impact of the FTA should be seen in G over the three years. BBC

But a number of unresolved challenges, such as the UK imposing tariffs on steel imports above a certain quota to protect domestic producers, could stand in the way of exploiting the full scope of the deal, Srivastava said.

The UK’s proposed carbon tax (called CBM, External) may also reduce some of the gains of the FTA, because if tariffs “fall to zero under the FTA, carbon-related border charges may increase the effective cost of Indian exports in sectors covered by the CBAM, creating new trade conflicts,” he said.