India to roll out 9 FTAs in next 10 months, negotiate up to 4 more: Goyal

India expects the nine free trade agreements (FTAs) signed over the last three years to become operational within 10 months, with plans to execute another three to four significant pacts over the next year, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

His statement underscores the government’s intent to make the country a manufacturing and investment hub and deepen integration with global markets.

At least two to three “very substantive” FTAs will come into force in the next six months following the implementation of the Oman FTA on June 1, Goyal said at the Citi 2026 India Conference in Mumbai. The nine agreements signed in recent years cover 38 developed economies that “do not compete with India, but in fact complement the India growth story”.

Addressing global investors, Goyal said India has become the world’s most credible alternative manufacturing destination as multinational corporations reassess global supply chains.

“My discussions with roughly 50 [international] companies who joined me at a roundtable clearly give me a picture that the world is looking at India as the only credible alternative as a manufacturing hub, as a trusted partner, as an investment destination which is safe.”

Goyal said investor sentiment during his recent visits to Canada and the United States reflected growing confidence in India’s long-term growth prospects. “The world’s long-term capital is looking at India and the opportunities that India presents.”

“I have no hesitation in assuring all the friends at the India conference that India will continue to be the world’s fastest-growing economy for over two decades into the future,” he said.

Goyal highlighted India’s demographic advantage, expanding domestic market and technology capabilities as key factors attracting global investment.

Goyal said the government had recently unveiled a programme with an outlay of $3.5 billion to develop 100 industrial parks. The parks will provide ready-to-use industrial infrastructure, including land, utilities, worker housing, environmental clearances and digital connectivity.

“We can offer factory-ready infrastructure,” he said, adding that the government’s role was increasingly that of a facilitator rather than a regulator.

A series of regulatory reforms had improved the ease of doing business. The implementation of the four Labour Codes consolidated 29 laws into a simplified framework.

India has ensured its energy security and successfully navigated recent geopolitical disruptions by diversifying supply sources and ensuring uninterrupted fuel availability and stable prices amid the turbulence in West Asia.

The minister said infrastructure spending remained a pillar of the government’s economic strategy, with investments of nearly $130 billion being channelled into highways, ports, airports and rural connectivity projects.