'Sour Grapes?': Piyush Goyal Counters Congress Criticism On India-EU Free Trade Deal

Last Updated:January 29, 2026, 09:20 IST

Piyush Goyal hit back at Jairam Ramesh’s criticism of the India-EU FTA with a “sour grapes” remark, calling the pact a “win-win” and the “mother of all deals”.

File photos of Piyush Goyal/Jairam Ramesh (PTI)

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday opened his rebuttal to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s criticism of the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement with a sharp jab, asking whether the comments amounted to “sour grapes".

In a detailed post on X, Goyal accused the Opposition of lacking resolve in the past and of now attempting to cast doubt on a deal he said would unlock major opportunities for India’s economy.

“It is interesting to see that those who could not take decisions because they had no connect with the people on the ground are today making a virtue of not doing anything," he wrote, adding that citizens had borne “immense costs for this lost opportunity" in jobs, income and growth.

Ramesh had earlier questioned the pact, tracing its origins to June 2007, when negotiations between India and the 27-nation EU began, followed by 16 rounds before talks were suspended in May 2013 and revived only in June 2022.

He described the newly concluded agreement as “hugely hyped", warning that tariff reductions or relief on more than 96 per cent of EU exports to India could sharply raise imports and widen the trade deficit.

The Congress leader also alleged the Modi government’s failure to secure exemptions for aluminium and steel exporters from the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, saying shipments had already fallen from $7 billion to $5 billion and could drop further after the mechanism’s enforcement from January 1, 2026.

He raised concerns about EU health and product safety norms acting as non-tariff barriers, unresolved Intellectual Property issues affecting pharmaceuticals, claims of privileged access to India’s services market, the inclusion of automobiles in the pact and potential risks to the Electric Vehicle industry.

Ramesh further sought clarity on the future of India’s refined fuel exports to the EU, much of which are sourced from Russia.

‘MOTHER OF ALL DEALS’, SAYS GOYAL

Rejecting the charge that the agreement was overhyped, Goyal wrote, “What puzzles me is that when the whole world is calling it the ‘mother of all deals’, my friend thinks it is hugely hyped."

Pointing to the combined $25 trillion GDP of India and the EU, global trade of $11 trillion and a common market of two billion people, he asked whether “$33 billion of India’s labour-intensive exports going to zero on day 1" was really being dismissed as hype.

Stressing that the two sides were “largely complementary economies", the minister said the pact was “not a zero-sum deal but a win-win deal which will power our economic growth and create a plethora of opportunities for our businesses and people".

On Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), he said, “Our Government has taken up the issue, like no one ever has and identified pathways to find solutions," arguing that New Delhi was pursuing dialogue and cooperation rather than what he described as “immature, illogical and rigid positions".

Addressing regulatory concerns, Goyal noted that “all countries, including India, reserve their right to regulate for health and safety reasons," and insisted that safeguards were built into the agreement so such rules did not become unjustified trade barriers.

He added that Intellectual Property obligations mirrored WTO TRIPS norms, preserved public-health flexibilities, recognised India’s traditional digital knowledge library project and maintained the country’s data exclusivity policy.

On services, Goyal said commitments were aligned with India’s domestic regime and could attract EU investment and technology into capital-intensive sectors such as maritime and financial services.

Defending the automobile provisions, he said India’s “quota-based, premium segment-focused and phased auto offer" – including a five-year time lag for EVs from EIF – was meant to strengthen MAKE IN INDIA by encouraging European manufacturers to assemble locally before moving to full localisation.

“This brings high-end manufacturing processes, quality standards, and advanced R and D practices into the Indian ecosystem," he wrote.

On refined fuels, the minister said the issue was linked to “extraneous reasons" and reiterated that the FTA was a long-term strategic engagement “based on trust and mutual respect".

Earlier, when the deal was signed on January 27, Goyal had hailed it as a “formidable partnership for the world", sharing visuals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting European Council President Antonio Luis Santos da Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the India-EU Summit in New Delhi.

Von der Leyen had also called it the “mother of all deals", saying it created a free trade zone of two billion people and marked “only the beginning" of a deeper strategic relationship.

The agreement, first initiated in 2007 and relaunched in 2022, is expected to anchor a broader EU-India strategic agenda spanning prosperity and sustainability, technology and innovation, security and defence, and connectivity and global issues, alongside the newly signed security and defence partnership between the two sides.

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