One year after the trade agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association took effect, Swiss watchmakers stand out as early winners. Swiss watch exports to India reached CHF295 million in 2025, an increase of 35% since 2023, as duties on timepieces fall towards zero. Other sectors, above all pharmaceuticals, are still waiting for the gains they had hoped for.
The deal, known as TEPA, came into force on 1 October 2025 after 16 years and 21 rounds of negotiation. Switzerland, India’s most important trading partner within EFTA, gained preferential access to a market of 1.46 billion people before the EU or any of its member states. Swiss watches faced import duties of 22% in India last year, according to a New York Times report. Those tariffs have already been cut twice, on 1 October 2025 and again at the start of 2026, and will keep falling in stages until they disappear within five years. The prospect of duty-free watches set the tone at a gathering of Indian and Swiss entrepreneurs in mid-September, hosted by the Geneva Chamber of Commerce with the Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce. Vincent Subilia, director of the Geneva chamber, called TEPA the most significant trade agreement in the world. Chocolate, car parts and dental equipment have also seen two rounds of cuts, while gold, precious metals, dairy, finished generic drugs and cars remain excluded.
Pharmaceutical companies are less satisfied. India has refused to grant data exclusivity or allow patents to be extended beyond 20 years, and Roche, which plans to invest about CHF1.7 billion in India by 2030, says it has not yet seen tangible benefits for imported medicines. Philippe Reich, chairman of the Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce, expects about five years before drugmakers seriously consider India for research and production. Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who visited New Delhi in early October with Roche and Novartis, said the deal is not perfect.
Investment flows are building in both directions of the relationship. The Swiss-Indian chamber counts $29 billion of announced investment since TEPA from Switzerland alone, and ABB plans a $75 million expansion in 2026. Large multinationals have moved first, and Reich expects smaller companies to benefit over time. The head start may narrow, though: the EU has finalised its own negotiations with India, and that agreement could take effect in 2027.
