Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will travel to Muscat, Oman, starting Monday to give "further impetus" to the free trade agreement (FTA) talks between India and Oman.

       “The talks on the India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which are at an advanced stage, are likely to get further impetus during the visit. Both sides are negotiating and exploring a commercially significant, balanced, equitable, ambitious, and mutually beneficial CEPA,” the commerce department said on Sunday.

       An official statement said Goyal will be on a two-day visit to meet his counterpart Qais bin Mohammed bin Moosa al-Yousef and hold wide-ranging discussions on trade, investment, and the global economic situation.

       Goyal’s visit comes against the backdrop of the proposed FTA between India and Oman hitting a deadlock. This is because the West Asian nation has asked New Delhi to revise its market access offer on certain products, even though the negotiations were completed in March last year. Revising India’s offer would mean restarting inter-ministerial consultations to firm up the country’s revised stance.

       One of the main areas of contention has been the pressure on New Delhi to provide greater market access for polyethylene and polypropylene—intermediates used to manufacture plastics, medical devices, electronics, and automobile components. These petrochemical products attract a 7.5 per cent import duty in India.

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       The formal commencement of the India-Oman FTA negotiations began in November 2023. The negotiations on the text of most chapters were concluded by India and Oman by January 2024. The plan was to sign the agreement as soon as the new government in India assumed charge in New Delhi in June. However, fresh demands from Oman for a revised offer have stalled the deal.

       “This visit underscores the importance that India attaches to its trade and investment ties with Oman, one of our important trading partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with bilateral trade estimated at over $8.94 billion in 2023-2024,” the statement said.

       On the sidelines, Goyal is also expected to meet Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, Minister of Finance and Chairperson of the Ministerial Committee for CEPA, Sheikh Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, President of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ), and hold interactions with representatives of Oman’s industry and the Indian community.

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