The week in charts: India-EU FTA, 2026 Padma Awards, India’s EM ranking
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. india eu fta, emerging market tracker, mint em tracker, padma awards 2026, economic survey 2026, india gdp forecast, union budget 2026, adventure tourism india, industrial production india, iip growth december From India and the EU concluding the ‘mother of all deals’, to India slipping to sixth place on Mint’s emerging market tracker, the 2026 Padma Awards celebrating arts and technical fields, and the Budget losing its market-moving punch—here's this week’s news in numbers. India and the European Union concluded negotiations for a historic free trade agreement (FTA), dubbed the ‘mother of all deals’.
The pact grants India greater access to one of the world’s largest integrated economic partnerships. Once implemented, India will reduce tariffs to zero on nearly 96% of EU goods, while the EU will eliminate duties on about 97-98% of Indian goods. As the EU is nearly as big a market as the US for Indian exporters, sectors such as textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, marine products, and gems and jewellery are expected to benefit.
With US tariffs currently pressuring these export sectors, the EU agreement offers a cushion though the implementation of the deal could take up to a year. India’s rank fell to sixth place on Mint's emerging market tracker in December, marking its weakest performance since February 2025. The country topped the rankings for only five months in 2025, down from eight in 2024.
During December, a weak stock market and currency performance overshadowed strong GDP growth and manufacturing activity, dragging India’s composite score to 49.7 out of 100. Equity markets delivered the sharpest blow, with market capitalization falling 1.8% month-on-month. The rupee’s
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