News Brief
India And Oman To Seal Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Soon, Aiming To Expand Investments And Services
Qais bin Mohammed al Yousef and Piyush Goyal
India and Oman are on the cusp of finalising a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with both sides confident that the pact will be signed “very soon”, PTI reported.
According to Omani Ambassador to India Issa Saleh Abdullah Saleh Alshibani, negotiations have concluded and the agreement now awaits legislative and administrative clearances.
“Hopefully... we will reach a stage of signature very soon,” the envoy told PTI, noting that the process is in its final stages. Formal talks for the CEPA began in November 2023.
Such agreements typically reduce or remove tariffs on a wide range of goods, while also easing barriers in services and investment flows.
The Ambassador said that while petroleum products and urea currently make up more than 70 per cent of India’s imports from Oman, the CEPA will open avenues to expand the trade basket.
Other significant imports include polymers of propylene and ethylene, petroleum coke, gypsum, chemicals, and iron and steel.
Oman ranks as India’s third-largest export market within the Gulf Cooperation Council, after the UAE and Saudi Arabia. India already sealed a CEPA with the UAE in May 2022, which has substantially boosted bilateral trade.
Trade between India and Oman stood at USD 10.61 billion in 2024–25. There are currently more than 6,000 Indo-Omani joint ventures in Oman, with Indian firms particularly active in the Sohar and Salalah Free Zones.
Cumulative FDI equity inflows from Oman to India between April 2000 and March 2025 amounted to USD 605.57 million.
