Why in the News?

• The Union Health Ministry has released NFHS-6 fact sheets revealing notable gains in maternal care and child nutrition, but with a net reduction of 30 indicators, including critical metrics like anaemia, mortality, and sex ratio at birth.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About NFHS (Background, Previous Surveys, etc.)
• Changes in NFHS-6 (Gains, Loses, Implications, Significance)

About NFHS

• The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round household survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, as the nodal agency.
• It provides reliable data on population, health, and nutrition indicators.

• NFHS-4 (2015-16): Introduced district-level estimates and tablet-based digital interviewing, measuring 114 indicators.
• NFHS-5 (2019-21): Expanded to 131 key indicators, introducing new topics like preschool education, disability, and menstrual practices.
• NFHS-6 (2023-24): Covered nearly 6.8 lakh households across all states and UTs except Manipur.

• Historically, the NFHS has been additive by design, retaining previous questionnaires and adding new ones.
• However, NFHS-6 marks a departure, for the first time, the survey has subtracted overall.

What NFHS-6 Gained?

• NFHS-6 introduced several new dimensions:

• Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT)
• Self-Help Group (SHG) memberships
• Digital literacy
• Financial transactions
• Hepatitis-B and Hepatitis-C testing among women and men
• Dried blood spot collection from children aged 4-5 for Hepatitis-B testing
• Biological HIV testing has been brought back as part of clinical and biochemical testing

• Improvements in Key Indicators

• Mothers receiving at least 4 antenatal check-ups: Up about 7 percentage points from NFHS-5.
• Institutional births: Increased to 90.6% from 88.6%.
• Women's Internet use: Notable increase across states.
• Stunting among children under 5: Declined by over 6 percentage points, compared to under 3 percentage points between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5.
• Spousal violence: Dropped from 29.3% to 22.3%.

• State-Level Highlights

• Health insurance coverage in West Bengal rose from 33.7% to 88.2%, the largest increase.
• Women's Internet use in Andhra Pradesh jumped from 21% to 63.6%, the steepest rise.
• However, the share of women classified as overweight or obese increased in every state.

What NFHS-6 Lost?

• The preliminary fact sheet of NFHS-6 has only 101 indicators, compared to 131 in NFHS-5, a net reduction of 30 indicators (43 dropped, 13 added).
• Anaemia Dropped
  • Anaemia had shown a worsening picture between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5:

• Children: 58.6% to 67.1%
• Women aged 15-49: 53.1% to 57%
• Pregnant women: 50.4% to 52.2%
• The rise was near-universal, with child anaemia increasing in 28 states/UTs despite the Anaemia Mukt Bharat campaign (2018).

• Why dropped? NFHS measured haemoglobin from a finger-prick blood sample read on a portable analyser, which several nutrition researchers argued overstated anaemia compared to venous blood drawn by other surveys.
• Replacement: Anaemia will now be tracked through the Diet and Biomarkers Survey, launched in December 2022 at the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. This survey uses venous blood instead of the finger-prick method and tracks obesity alongside anaemia for the first time. Data collection is complete but yet to be released.

• Mortality Indicators Removed
  • Three mortality indicators have been cut:

• Neonatal mortality
• Infant mortality
• Under-five mortality

• These will now be tracked by the Sample Registration System (SRS), whose latest bulletin pegged infant mortality at 24 per 1,000 live births. However, SRS does not provide district-level data or socio-economic breakdowns available in NFHS.

• Sex Ratio Indicators Removed
  • Both the sex ratio of the total population and the sex ratio at birth (929 females per 1,000 males in NFHS-5) are absent.
  • This removes a key signal of sex-selective practices in the country.
• Sanitation and Clean Cooking Fuel Dropped
  • Two indicators closely tied to flagship government programmes have been removed:

• Access to sanitation facilities: NFHS-5 recorded 70%, a measure linked to the Swachh Bharat Mission and the 2019 declaration of India as open defecation-free.
• Clean cooking fuel use: 58.6% in NFHS-5, a direct measure of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana's success.

• Cancer Screening Indicators Gone
  • Four cancer-screening indicators covering cervical, breast, and oral cancer, introduced for the first time in NFHS-5, have been dropped after a single round.

Implications of the Changes

• Data Gaps: The removals leave no current survey-based national figure for:

• Infant mortality with district-level breakdowns
• Sanitation coverage
• Sex ratio at birth
• Cancer screening rates
• Comprehensive HIV knowledge

• These are gaps that no other single source fills at the same scale.

• Concerns Over Programme Evaluation
  • The removal of indicators tied to flagship schemes, sanitation, clean cooking fuel, anaemia, limits the ability to:
    • Independently evaluate the effectiveness of programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Ujjwala Yojana, and Anaemia Mukt Bharat.
    • Track district-level disparities that aggregate statistics cannot reveal.
    • Identify socio-economic patterns in health outcomes.

• Trade-offs in Survey Design
  • The shift represents a fundamental change in NFHS philosophy, moving from an additive design to a more selective approach.
  • While this may reduce respondent burden and improve data quality, it also reduces the survey's role as a single comprehensive source of health and demographic data.

Significance of NFHS-6 Changes

• Methodological Improvements
  • The dropping of finger-prick anaemia measurement in favour of venous blood methods reflects efforts to improve data accuracy.
  • The reintroduction of biological HIV testing addresses a gap from NFHS-5.
• New Areas of Inquiry
  • The addition of digital literacy, DBT, and SHG indicators acknowledges the changing landscape of welfare delivery and women's empowerment in India.
• Concerns Over Transparency
  • The lack of a published rationale for many changes raises questions about:

• Transparency in survey design decisions.
• Consistency in measuring progress over time.
• Continuity of long-term data series critical for policy evaluation.

Context:

• With the India–Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA) coming into force on June 1, India now has 15 FTAs covering 27 countries, while nine more agreements involving 42 countries are nearing completion.
• Once finalized, FTA partner countries could account for nearly 75% of India’s exports.
• However, the rapid expansion of FTAs has highlighted four major concerns: rising trade deficits, low utilisation of FTA benefits, worsening inverted duty structures, and the relocation of manufacturing to FTA partner countries.

Rising Trade Deficits with Major FTA Partners:

• Key trends:
  • Between 2007-09 and 2024-25, the trade deficit with ASEAN increased by 381%, with Japan it increased by 318%, and with South Korea it increased by 268%.
  • In contrast, India’s trade deficit with the rest of the world rose by 142%.
  • Over the last three years, the average annual trade deficit with ASEAN, Japan and South Korea reached around $62 billion.
  • Under newer FTAs (UAE, Australia, Mauritius and EFTA countries), India exported $48.6 billion in FY2025 but imported nearly $100 billion, creating a deficit exceeding $50 billion.
• Exception: South Asia remains an outlier, where India’s trade surplus expanded from $6.7 billion to $20 billion.
• Structural reason:
  • Most FTA partners already maintain low Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariffs, whereas India’s trade-weighted MFN tariff remains around 12.6%.
  • Consequently, tariff reductions provide substantial benefits to foreign exporters entering India. Indian exporters gain limited additional market access because partner-country tariffs were already low or zero.

Low Utilisation of FTA Benefits by Indian Exporters:

• Despite numerous FTAs, Indian exporters make limited use of preferential market access.
• Reasons for low utilisation:
  • Many partner countries already offer near-zero MFN tariffs.
  • Potential tariff savings are often too small to justify compliance costs related to rules of origin (RoO), certification procedures, documentation and paperwork.
• Outcome:
  • Only 20–30% of eligible Indian exports utilise FTA preferences.
  • In contrast, import-side utilisation rates are estimated at 60–70% because tariff reductions in India generate significant cost advantages for foreign suppliers.
• Core issue: Both rising imports and low export utilisation stem from the same factor: tariff asymmetry between India and its FTA partners.

Worsening Inverted Duty Structure:

• Meaning: An inverted duty structure occurs when import duties on raw materials and intermediate goods are higher than duties on finished products.
• Impact of FTAs: Many finished goods from ASEAN, Japan, South Korea, UAE and Australia enter India at low or zero duty, while domestic manufacturers continue to pay duties on imported inputs.
• Sectoral examples:
  • Engineering and machinery:
    • Steel and aluminium attract MFN duties of 7.5–10%. Machinery and engineering products made from these materials often enter duty-free under FTAs.
    • Domestic manufacturers face higher production costs than foreign competitors.
  • Chemicals, plastics and textiles: Inputs such as caustic soda, soda ash, polypropylene, PVC, and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), attract import duties. Finished products can often be imported at lower tariffs.
• Consequences: Reduced competitiveness of downstream industries, lower domestic value addition, and challenges to the objectives of Make in India and manufacturing-led growth.

“Make in ASEAN, Sell in India” Phenomenon:

• A growing concern is the relocation of production to FTA partner countries.
• How it happens: Inputs imported into India remain costly due to tariffs. Finished goods manufactured in FTA partner countries can be exported to India duty-free. Firms therefore find offshore production more profitable.
• Emerging trends:
  • ASEAN economies such as Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are increasingly serving as manufacturing hubs for the Indian market.
  • Chinese firms have invested heavily in these countries.
  • Several Indian companies have also established factories and joint ventures there.
• Affected sectors: Electronics, steel, chemicals, plastics, consumer goods, and engineering products.
• Implications: Movement of investment and jobs outside India. Weakening of domestic manufacturing ecosystems. Erosion of supply-chain resilience and industrial capacity.

Way Forward:

• To ensure FTAs support industrial development rather than undermine it, India must:
  • Align tariffs on industrial inputs with FTA commitments.
  • Rationalise inverted duty structures.
  • Improve FTA utilisation through simpler compliance procedures.
  • Strengthen domestic manufacturing competitiveness.
  • Conduct regular impact assessments of FTAs on trade, employment and industrial growth.
  • Integrate trade policy with the goals of Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and global value chain participation.

Conclusion:

• India’s FTAs are expanding its global economic integration and export opportunities, but persistent trade deficits, low export utilisation, inverted tariff structures, and offshore manufacturing incentives pose significant challenges.
• Addressing these structural issues is essential to ensure that FTAs become instruments of industrial strengthening, employment generation, and sustainable economic growth rather than drivers of import dependence and deindustrialisation.

Context

• The Supreme Court's judgment upholding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) has generated significant debate regarding electoral governance, constitutional authority, and democratic participation.
• While the judgment endorses the ECI's efforts to improve the accuracy of electoral rolls, concerns remain about the legality of the exercise, the timing of its implementation, and the implications for the right to vote and citizenship verification.
• These issues have far-reaching consequences for India's electoral democracy and the protection of citizens' political rights.

Constitutional and Legal Framework Governing Electoral Rolls

• Constitutional Provisions
  • The Constitution establishes the foundation of electoral democracy in India through several key provisions:
    • Article 324 empowers the ECI to supervise elections and prepare electoral rolls.
    • Article 325 guarantees a common electoral roll and prohibits discrimination in voter registration.
    • Article 326 provides for universal adult suffrage, ensuring voting rights for all eligible citizens.
    • Article 327 authorizes Parliament to enact laws relating to elections and electoral rolls.
  • Together, these provisions seek to balance electoral integrity with democratic inclusion.
• Statutory Framework
  • Electoral roll preparation and revision are governed by the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
    • Section 21(2) provides for regular revisions of electoral rolls before elections and permits intensive revision according to prescribed procedures.
    • Section 21(3) allows the ECI to conduct a special revision in a constituency or part thereof when necessary.
    • Rule 25 outlines the procedure for intensive and summary revisions.

Controversy Surrounding the SIR

• Question of Statutory Validity
  • A major controversy concerns the legal basis of the SIR. The Supreme Court accepted that the exercise could be undertaken under Section 21(3).
  • However, an alternative interpretation suggests that the provision authorizes only a special revision, not an intensive revision.
  • Since intensive revision is specifically provided under Section 21(2) and Rule 25, combining both categories into a single exercise may blur an important statutory distinction.
  • This raises questions about whether the SIR was conducted under the appropriate legal provision.
• Timing of the Revision
  • Intensive revisions involve extensive verification of voter records and generally require substantial time for implementation.
  • In States such as Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal, the exercise was undertaken shortly before Assembly elections.
  • The statutory scheme traditionally favours summary revision close to elections in order to minimise disruption and ensure voter participation.
  • Conducting a large-scale intensive revision during this period creates concerns regarding voter exclusion, procedural fairness, and access to effective remedies.

Citizenship Verification and Institutional Authority

• Determination of Citizenship Documents
  • Another contentious issue relates to the identification of documents required to establish citizenship.
  • The Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for administering citizenship laws and determining legal standards for proof of citizenship.
  • The ECI's role has traditionally been limited to verifying voter eligibility on the basis of legally recognized documents.
  • By prescribing specific documentation requirements, the ECI exercised considerable discretion in determining voter eligibility.
  • This development raises questions about the division of responsibilities between electoral authorities and agencies responsible for citizenship matters.
• Implications for Voter Inclusion
  • The judgment grants significant authority to the ECI in assessing citizenship-related documentation for electoral purposes.
  • While the final determination of citizenship remains with the competent authorities, exclusion from electoral rolls can have substantial consequences.
  • Individuals unable to satisfy documentary requirements may face disenfranchisement, reduced political participation, and uncertainty regarding their civic status.
  • Consequently, the issue extends beyond electoral administration and touches upon broader concerns of citizens' rights and democratic representation.

Impact on Electoral Administration

• The judgment also refers to cumulative inaccuracies and structural deficiencies in electoral rolls prepared over several decades.
• These observations suggest a need for reforms aimed at improving the accuracy and reliability of voter lists.
• At the same time, broad criticism of past electoral roll management may affect public confidence in electoral institutions.
• Therefore, efforts to strengthen electoral accuracy must be accompanied by robust safeguards that protect legitimate voters from wrongful exclusion.

Conclusion

• Accurate voter rolls are essential for free and fair elections, but the process of maintaining them must remain consistent with constitutional principles and statutory safeguards.
• The Supreme Court's judgment significantly strengthens the authority of the ECI, particularly in matters relating to electoral roll revision and voter verification.
• However, it also raises important questions concerning judicial oversight, administrative accountability, citizenship verification, and the protection of voting rights.
• As a result, the judgment is likely to remain a landmark reference point in future debates on electoral reforms, democratic governance, and constitutional democracy in India.

Why in news?

India added more solar power in 2025 than any country in the world except China. Solar now accounts for nearly 30% of India's total installed electricity capacity.

Yet two flagship government schemes for decentralised solar — PM Suryaghar Yojana and PM-KUSUM — are performing well below their targets.

The article examines why, and arrives at a counter-intuitive finding: existing power subsidies are undermining solar adoption, and the solution being explored is more subsidies.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• The Two Flagship Schemes
• The Central Problem: Free Electricity Kills the Incentive
• The Solution: Ironically, More Subsidies
• Why Decentralised Solar Is Increasingly Urgent?
• Conclusion

The Two Flagship Schemes

• PM Suryaghar Yojana: Targets installation of rooftop solar units on one crore households. Benefits include free electricity up to 300 units per month and a cash subsidy for equipment purchase.
• PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan): Targets farmers — helping them set up small solar plants on unused land or install solar water pumps for irrigation. Farmers can earn income by selling surplus solar electricity or save on diesel and pump electricity bills.
• Together, both schemes carry a combined budget of roughly Rs 95,000 crore.
• Achievements: How Far Have These Two Schemes Reached
  • Combined, the two schemes have installed about 13 GW of decentralised solar against a target of 40 GW by the end of the FY2025-26 — less than one-third of the goal.
  • PM-KUSUM's most successful component has been standalone off-grid solar water pumps for farmers — 10.9 lakh pumps installed against a target of 14 lakh.
  • The scheme, originally meant to be completed by 2022, has been extended due to pandemic disruptions.
  • Under PM Suryaghar, the five best-performing states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, and Rajasthan — account for nearly 70% of all 33 lakh rooftop installations so far.
  • States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Bihar, and Jharkhand lag significantly.

The Central Problem: Free Electricity Kills the Incentive

• When grid electricity is already free or heavily subsidised, households and farmers have no financial reason to invest in rooftop solar.
• Installing a solar system requires an upfront cost of a few lakh rupees. That investment only makes financial sense if it saves you money on your electricity bill. If your bill is already near zero, the calculation simply does not work.
  • The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy itself confirmed this to Parliament's Estimates Committee: one of the primary reasons for low PM Suryaghar adoption is that the effective electricity tariff for domestic consumers is near zero or actually zero in many states.
• Punjab is the clearest example. It offers 300 units of free electricity to domestic consumers every month and completely free power to all agricultural tubewells.
• Punjab's annual power subsidy bill exceeded Rs 20,000 crore last year — yet its adoption of both solar schemes is among the lowest in the country.
• Similarly, Karnataka (Rs 27,000 crore subsidy bill) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 15,700 crore subsidy bill) show relatively poor solar scheme uptake.
• In contrast, Gujarat, Kerala, and Maharashtra — which have higher electricity tariff rates, especially for large consumers — have seen much higher adoption.

The Solution: Ironically, More Subsidies

• The answer some states have found is to offer additional, one-time financial incentives on top of the central scheme's benefits — making the upfront equipment purchase easier to bear.
• Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, both of which already offer heavily subsidised power, have done remarkably well on PM Suryaghar and PM-KUSUM by layering extra state-level subsidies to help consumers cross the upfront cost barrier.
• This is not as contradictory as it sounds. Recurring power subsidies are an unending fiscal liability for state governments — they go on forever.
• A one-time equipment subsidy is a finite expenditure that eventually reduces the need for recurring subsidies.
• The Estimates Committee of Parliament endorsed this logic and suggested the government explore ways to make upfront costs easier for consumers.
• If PM Suryaghar is fully implemented, it is estimated to save the government approximately Rs 75,000 crore per year in electricity costs.

Why Decentralised Solar Is Increasingly Urgent?

• There are two structural reasons why getting households and farmers onto solar matters beyond just reducing subsidy bills.
• Land scarcity for large solar parks is becoming a real constraint on India's centralised solar expansion. Decentralised generation — on rooftops and farmlands — uses space that already exists without displacing other land uses.
• Hydropower is stagnating as a backup source. Traditionally, hydropower supplemented grid electricity during peak summer demand, driven by monsoon reservoir levels.
• But large hydropower capacity has stopped growing, and peak electricity demands in April-May 2026 were met largely through solar power — not hydro.
• In a year of low rainfall and high temperatures, which is increasingly the norm due to climate change, decentralised solar becomes a critical buffer against grid stress.

Conclusion

• India aims for 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. Understanding why decentralised solar schemes underperform despite large budgets is important for policy analysis.
• The paradox of power subsidies undermining solar adoption illustrates the unintended consequences of poorly designed subsidy regimes.
• Also, the wide variation in solar scheme performance across states reflects how state-level electricity pricing decisions can either enable or undermine central government clean energy programmes.

Why in news?

India is remodelling its Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) framework around three key principles: a minimum two-year local remedy window before international arbitration, no Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause, and exclusion of tax-related provisions.

The Union Budget 2025-26 had announced a revamp of the existing 2016 BIT model to make it more investor-friendly. The new model is still being finalised, with the government considering tailoring terms country-by-country.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What Is a BIT and Why Does It Matter?
• India's BIT History: From 1993 to 2016
• The Three Pillars of the New Model
• The Ongoing Debate
• Where Things Stand?

What Is a BIT and Why Does It Matter?

• A Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is an agreement between two countries to promote and protect investments made by investors of each country in the other's territory.
• It gives foreign investors certain guarantees — against arbitrary treatment, expropriation without compensation, and denial of justice.
• When disputes arise, BITs typically allow investors to take the host country to international arbitration.
• BITs are crucial for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). They signal to investors that the host country offers a stable, rules-based environment for investment.

India's BIT History: From 1993 to 2016

• India signed BITs with 83 countries based on its 1993 model (amended in 2003). Of these, 74 were ratified.
• The 1993 model allowed foreign investors to go directly to international arbitration without exhausting domestic remedies first.
• A turning point came when global companies like Vodafone and Cairn Energy filed international arbitration cases against India in tax disputes — and won.
• These cases exposed India to significant financial liability and raised concerns about regulatory sovereignty. India responded by overhauling its BIT framework.
• The 2016 BIT model introduced a major change: foreign investors must now exhaust all domestic remedies before initiating international arbitration.
• Of the 74 ratified BITs, India issued termination notices to 68 countries and asked them to renegotiate on the basis of the 2016 model.

The Three Pillars of the New Model

• Two-Year Local Remedy Window
  • The most debated feature of the 2016 model was the requirement to exhaust local remedies for five years before accessing international arbitration. Critics called this excessive and investor-unfriendly.
  • The new model proposes reducing this to a minimum of two years. For some countries, even a one-year cooling window is being considered during ongoing negotiations. The India-UAE BIT had already reduced this to three years.
  • The government's rationale is clear: India must protect its parliamentary sovereignty and judicial authority.
  • International arbitration — where India has limited representation and faces discretionary decisions — should be a last resort, not the first recourse.
• No Most Favoured Nation (MFN) Clause
  • The MFN clause in investment treaties requires a country to extend to the treaty partner whatever favourable treatment it gives to any third country.
  • If India signs a more liberal BIT with Country B, Country A can use the MFN clause to claim the same benefits.
  • Removing MFN gives India flexibility to negotiate different terms with different countries based on the nature of bilateral engagement — without being locked into automatic extension of better terms across all treaties.
• Taxation Kept Outside BITs
  • Tax disputes — like the Vodafone and Cairn cases — triggered India's BIT crisis in the first place.
  • The new model explicitly excludes tax-related provisions from BITs, insulating domestic tax policy from investor-state arbitration.
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reinforced this in February 2025, stating that BITs should be negotiated separately from Free Trade Agreements, by specialists with expertise in taxation and policy.

The Ongoing Debate

• Critics: The Local Remedy Window Is Still Too Long
  • The experts argued that the "most damaging provision" in India's BIT was the five-year local remedy requirement.
  • Even the proposed two-year window, he argued, is far above global norms.
  • They cited Indonesia's model — which scrapped its old BITs in 2014 and restarted with a 12-month cooling period, a three-judge panel, and a presiding judge agreed upon by both parties who cannot be a national of either country.
• Government's Defence
  • Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran responded that academic research shows weak or no relationship between individual BIT signings and FDI inflows.
  • What matters is the cumulative stock of treaties — which signals an overall regime of investor protection.
  • He acknowledged that the investment climate needs continuous improvement and that the BIT revision is still incomplete.
• Global Trend: Moving Away from ISDS
  • Many countries are moving away from Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) — the traditional model where investors can directly sue host governments in international tribunals.
  • Australia and the UAE, for example, have shifted to State-to-State Dispute Settlement (SSDS) in their bilateral investment treaty, where disputes are resolved between governments rather than between investors and states.

Where Things Stand?

• Since the 2016 model, India has signed new BITs with Belarus, Kyrgyz Republic, Brazil (as an Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Treaty), UAE, and Uzbekistan.
• A Bilateral Investment Agreement has also been signed with Taiwan (through the India Taipei Association).
• The new model being developed is expected to be country-specific and flexible — with terms calibrated to the nature of each bilateral relationship — rather than a single rigid template applied universally.

Context:

• The India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) came into force on June 1, 2026.
• Bilateral trade between India and Oman has already grown from $8.94 billion in FY2023-24 to $11.18 billion in FY2025-26, reflecting deepening economic complementarities even before the CEPA came into effect.
• In this context, this article highlights that the CEPA agreement is far more than a trade deal — it is a modern framework that builds on one of the world's oldest bilateral relationships and opens a strategic gateway for India into the Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and East Africa.

India's Expanding Trade Architecture

• The Oman CEPA does not stand alone. It is part of India's deliberate strategy of deepening trade ties through comprehensive agreements.
• India has recently concluded or is pursuing CEPAs with the UAE, Australia, EFTA, UK, New Zealand, and the EU.
• Oman is the latest addition — and a strategically important one, given its location at the crossroads of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean.
• Before this agreement, only 15.33% of India's exports entered Oman at zero duty under the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) regime.
• The CEPA changes this dramatically: Oman now offers duty-free access on 98.08% of its tariff lines, covering 99.38% of India's exports by value.
• This is a sweeping competitiveness boost for Indian exporters.

Sector-by-Sector Benefits

• Textiles and Apparel
  • India already holds a dominant position — 43% of Oman's woven apparel imports and 31% of knitted apparel imports.
  • The existing 5% tariff is now eliminated. This directly strengthens India's competitiveness against China, the other major supplier in this market.
• Chemicals
  • India supplies nearly 39% of Oman's inorganic chemical imports. Tariff-free access will amplify this already strong position further.
• Engineering Goods
  • This is perhaps the biggest opportunity. Oman imports over $3.7 billion in mechanical machinery and $3.3 billion in automotives annually.
  • India's current market share is just 5% and 2% respectively — indicating enormous headroom for growth.
  • The CEPA's preferential access can help Indian engineering exports penetrate Oman's infrastructure, construction, and industrial sectors.
• Pharmaceuticals
  • India holds around 10% market share in Oman's pharmaceutical market.
  • Here, the benefit is not tariff reduction but regulatory facilitation — products approved by leading international regulators will receive fast-tracked approvals, reducing compliance costs and accelerating market entry.
• Food and Agriculture
  • Duty-free access has been granted for products like meat, eggs, honey, butter, and processed foods.
  • However, sensitive sectors — dairy, cereals, edible oils, and key agricultural commodities — have been kept outside tariff concessions, protecting domestic producers.

Trade Facilitation: Cutting Red Tape

• Beyond tariffs, the CEPA introduces important procedural reforms:
  • Oman will accept certificates from India's Export Inspection Council (EIC), eliminating duplicative testing.
  • India's NPOP organic certification and halal certification systems are now recognised.
  • Dedicated provisions on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) will improve regulatory transparency.
  • Fast-track customs clearance for perishables will reduce costs and improve efficiency for time-sensitive exports.

Services and Professional Mobility

• This is where the CEPA breaks new ground. Bilateral services trade stood at $863 million in 2024, with India enjoying a surplus of nearly $447 million.
• Yet India's share in Oman's global services imports is just over 5% — indicating substantial untapped potential.
• Oman has made binding commitments for Indian professionals in accounting, engineering, IT, healthcare, education, and consulting.
• Quotas for intra-corporate transferees have been raised, enabling greater movement of Indian specialists.
• Provisions for AYUSH and traditional medicine create additional opportunities in the Gulf's growing wellness sector.

Oman's Strategic Location: A Gateway, Not Just a Market

• The editorial's most important insight is geographical. Oman is not just a destination market — it is a logistics and strategic hub.
• Its ports at Sohar, Duqm, and Salalah are emerging as major industrial and shipping hubs connecting the Gulf, Indian Ocean, and East African economies.
• For Indian businesses, the CEPA makes Oman a potential launchpad into the wider GCC region and East Africa — markets far larger than Oman itself.
• This strategic dimension elevates the agreement well beyond bilateral trade.
• The benefits will reach across India's industrial geography — textile clusters in Tamil Nadu, gems and jewellery in Gujarat, engineering hubs in Maharashtra and Punjab, pharma manufacturers in Telangana, and seafood exporters in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Conclusion

• The Oman CEPA is history meeting opportunity — an ancient maritime partnership reimagined for the 21st century.
• Its true worth will be measured not in its text, but in how boldly Indian businesses choose to walk through the door it has opened.

About Bascanichthys chepakakiensis:

• It is a new species of snake eel discovered in Kakinada fishing harbour in Andhra Pradesh.
• The specific name, chepakakiensis, is a combination of two words from the regional Telugu language: chepa, which means "fish," and "kaki, a shortened nickname for Kakinada.
• It is the only second time a species of this snake-eel genus has been described from Indian waters.
• Features of Bascanichthys chepakakiensis:
  • It has a distinct bicoloured body.
  • It has a noticeably shorter snout, a different tooth arrangement in its jaws, and fewer vertebrae before its anal fin.
  • It also possesses incredibly tiny, flap-like pectoral fins that are barely visible.

What are Snake eels?

• Snake eels are members of the family Ophichthidae, and are named for their snake-like appearance
• Habitat: These eels mainly live in sandy areas in shallow seas, however some live in depths to 800m.
• Distribution: They are found in both tropical and temperate waters in oceans around the world.
• The snake eel uses its tail to burrow backward into the sea bottom, creating a protective burrow.

About Indonesia:

• Location: It is an archipelagic nation located off the Southeast Asian mainland in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• Bordering countries: It is bordered by Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste.
• Maritime Border: It is surrounded by the Indian Ocean in the south; by the Pacific Ocean (South China Sea) in the north.
• Capital City:
• Geographical Features of Indonesia:
  • Terrain: The major Indonesian islands are characterized by densely forested volcanic mountains in the interior that slope downward to coastal plains covered by thick alluvial swamps. 
  • Climate: The climate of Indonesia is almost everywhere equatorial, ie hot, humid and rainy throughout the year
  • Rivers: Main Rivers are Kapuas, Barito, Musi, and Digul.
  • Highest Peak: Puncak Jaya
  • Natural Resources: It is dominated by natural gas and crude petroleum. Other major mineral exports include coal, nickel, bauxite, gold, tin, and copper.