The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the United Kingdom came into effect on Wednesday, eliminating or reducing tariffs on 99% of Indian exports to the UK and 90% of UK imports into India in what the British government has described as its most significant bilateral trade deal since leaving the EU. The pact is projected to boost UK GDP by around £4.8bn and India's by roughly £5.1bn annually over the long term, with sectors such as textiles, garments, footwear, and Scotch whisky — whose import duty into India will fall from 150% to 40% over ten years — among the early beneficiaries. However, trade analysts caution that the overall impact may prove incremental rather than transformational, noting that historically only 20–30% of India's eligible exports actually make use of FTA preferences, and that pending challenges including UK steel quotas and a proposed UK carbon border tax could limit the full scope of the agreement.