The India trade agreement is a big deal for Scotch whisky - we're entering a new golden era
6 May 2025, 17:16
Transformational. Groundbreaking. Landmark. Superlatives that are often overused.
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But in relation to the UK-India free trade agreement, announced earlier today, and the impact it will have on the Scotch whisky industry, they are bang on.
This literally is a big deal for Scotch whisky and Scotland.
The deal will see the current 150% tariff on Scotch whisky cut in half to 75%, and then over the next decade further reduced to 40%. This access to India, the world’s largest whisky market, truly is transformational for the Scotch Whisky industry, which will now be able to ship more Scotch to a market which is primed for growth.
Our modelling shows that a cut in the tariff of this magnitude will generate an additional £1 billion of Scotch Whisky exports over the next five years, and create 1,200 more UK based jobs, the majority in Scotland. In India too there will be benefits, with an additional £3.4 billion in state and federal duties, and more choice for consumers who love Scotch whisky, and want to have more choice in the market.
The headroom for growth in India is truly staggering. Scotch whisky currently enjoys around a 3% share of the whisky market in India. Yet, that already translates to £250 million of value exports, and the equivalent of almost 200 million bottles exported each year – making India the industry’s largest market by volume. Now with this deal in place, there is the opportunity to build on these strong trade foundations and enter a new golden era for Scotch Whisky in India.
The deal will especially benefit SME distillers who want to export to India but for whom the current tariff has made that impossible. Now, with the reduction coming over the next decade, there is the potential for new brands to enter the market, build their consumer base and, in turn, generate more prosperity in communities across Scotland, the UK-wide supply chain and in India.
In announcing the deal, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the UK-India agreement was a central part of the government’s number one mission – growth. The number one trade priority for the Scotch whisky industry over the past decade has been to unlock India, and this deal opens the door to more trade, more jobs, more investment and ultimately that growth we all want to see.
Distillers across Scotland, and I’m sure millions of consumers in India, will be raising a dram to this deal tonight. I will join them and look forward to working with the UK government and our partners in India to implement the deal quickly, and bring the myriad benefits of this trade agreement from theory to reality as quickly as possible.
A landmark day which is a big deal indeed.
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Mark Kent is the Chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association.
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