India’s agricultural exports to Australia are up 58 per cent during the first half of 2024 with the first phase of the Australia-India Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) working well, said the Australian High Commissioner to India, Philip Green.
He said the growth in India’s agri-exports post ECTA is mainly due to increase in shipments of commodities such as rice, tea, coffee and oilseeds among others. Australia has a lot of population of Indian origin.
Post ECTA, India’s agri exports to Australia during H1 2024 stood at nearly A$250 million (A$1 equals ₹56.58) compared with the pre-ECTA period (H1 2022).
Grains shipments up
Australia and India signed the ECTA on April 2, 2022, to liberalise the bilateral trade in goods and services. ECTA came into force from December 29, 2022. Currently, the tenth round of negotiations is going on for the second phase of the free trade agreement called the Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA), which will build upon the ECTA outcomes for closer economic ties between the two countries.
Green, who is leading a delegation of eight Australian ag-tech companies and universities to places like Delhi, Lucknow and Bengaluru, said the step-up agri engagements like collaboration will strengthen the trade between the two countries. Australian companies have lot of technologies and expertise in areas such as grains, horticulture and dairying among others to offer to the Indian farmers.
Rice shipments during H1 2024 were up 56 per cent at A$60 million, while the export of butter and dairy spreads were up 63 per cent at A$7 million.
Oilseeds export has also picked up during the year to A$20 million, up 45 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous year. Exports of other items such as vegetable extracts, sweets and food supplements that have witnessed growth this year.
Avacado breakthrough
Green said more agritech co-operation can improve yields and improve supply chain technologies, support the interlocking benefit between the Australian and Indian agri trade. Recent breakthrough for Australia in India includes avocados. “The Australian avacados have now landed and is part of the Indian food supply chain. Big trade is in the fields like lentils, cotton and almonds and that will only continue,” he said.
During 2023, the Indian agri exports to Australia stood at A$640 million, up 15 per cent from the previous year’s A$550 million.
Australia’s agri exports to India also grew by some 60 per cent during 2023 to around A$1.6 billion compared with A$1 billion the previous year. The rise in agri imports from Australia was entirely due to the surge in the inflow of lentils after the government reduced the duties to manage the domestic supplies.