Free, with restrictions.

"India has emerged as one of the world's most active negotiators of free trade agreements (FTA)." FTAs have been concluded with the UK and New Zealand, while those with the European Union (EU) and the US are in the works. But, "Only an estimated 20-30% of India's eligible exports ever take advantage of FTA preferences." In sharp contrast "with an FTA utilisation rate of 60-70% in developed markets." "India's high landed costs versus its Asian neighbors deter exports from even trying to break into new markets." Also, despite high anti-dumping duties by developed economies, Chinese goods ""still remain cheaper than India's, wrote Megha Mandava. However, even a successful trade pact has to negotiate our overzealous customs and tax officials. "Indian customs is holding dozens of containers of bulk Scotch imported by Pernod Ricard and Diageo as investigators press for a 150% tariff, even though the companies rely on a New Delhi assurance of lower duties under the India-UK trade pact." "The investigators say the lower rate applies only to finished products such as bottled, ready-to-drink Scotch." Apparently, a memo from the Finance Ministry's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on 4 November is behind this holdup. Reuters. Just as a rose by any other name (wikipedia), Scotch in any container should taste just as smooth. To compete we need R&D to produce things that other countries will want. But, India spends just 0.6% of GDP on R&D, against China's 2.7% and Korea's 5%, and only 41% of our R&D comes from the private sector. "At home, an Indian manufacturer can get its edge from regulations," so "Indian firms, thus, sit protected from competition, waiting for the world to innovate," wrote Rahul Ahluwalia. "India's service exports, which were almost nothing in 1995, have risen to $418 billion 2025-26, nearly as large as goods exports ($442 billion). "Add $144 billion that India gets as remittance from Indians abroad," which can be called labor exports. Hence, goods exports have less weight in our trade and current account balance, wrote Swaminathan Aiyar. "Foreign investors see impressive things in India." So, India "can attract a much more foreign investment, but it will not." "A TeamLease report found that setting up a stand-alone solar plant requires 2,735 compliances. Almost 40% of these are labor related, although such plants require little labor." wrote Aiyar. Foreign companies would bring new technologies, helping to increase exports. "Government incentives have helped turn India into a major electronics assembly base, particularly for mobile phones - 55 million iPhones, accounting for 14% of Apple's production, are assembled in India." "But for all the gleaming new production lines, local value addition in India remains modest, at 15-18%, versus 40% in China." "It requires reliable electricity, cheaper capital, logistics, skilled workers, component suppliers, testing facilities, design expertise, intellectual property and thousands of smaller manufacturers capable of producing at Six Sigma quality," wrote Shelley Singh. Regulations increase cost of manufacturing in India. "Competing in manufacturing requires factories to meet the speed and cost demands of modern supply chains." "Managing such conditions requires arranging working time across a production cycle to use capacity more efficiently, shorten delivery timelines, reduce inventory costs, and improve the chances of winning repeat orders," wrote B Anand, P Chandra & N Pradeep. FTAs have been signed. But, the Gordian Knot of restrictions need to be cut. Who will be Alexander?