India has approved imports of 642 cars from the UK under the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) provisions of the India-UK trade pact, according to a senior government official aware of the matter.
The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) came into force on 15 July 2026, and this approval—covering eight applicant companies, seven of which were allotted quota while one received a deficiency certificate — comes just 63 days later.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the commerce ministry arm handling the process, invited applications in July for the allocation of 2026 import quotas covering fully built passenger cars and goods vehicles eligible for preferential duties. Only original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), or their authorised dealers and channel partners for UK-origin vehicles, were eligible to apply. Applicants were required to submit pre-purchase agreements specifying quantities, while shipments require a valid UK certificate of origin.
An email query sent to the DGFT, commerce ministry and UK High Commission in India seeking an immediate response remained unanswered at the time of publication.
Under , India is allowing concessional-duty imports of conventional-engine, or internal-combustion-engine (), passenger cars from the UK, subject to annual quantitative limits. The framework allows a cumulative 378,000 such vehicles over the first 15 years of the agreement, with tariffs on automotive imports within the quotas falling from as high as 110% to 10%.
For the first year, the annual quota stands at 20,000 ICE passenger cars, divided across engine-size categories: 10,000 units for vehicles with petrol engines above 3,000 cc or diesel engines above 2,500 cc, with duty reduced to 30% from 110%; and 5,000 units each for the mid-range category—1,500–3,000 cc petrol or up to 2,500 cc diesel—and smaller vehicles with engines up to 1,500 cc, with duty reduced to 50% from 66%.
Because the agreement took effect midway through the calendar year, the 2026 allocation is being applied on a pro-rata basis. Reports indicate a total TRQ of around 10,480 ICE vehicles for the calendar year, with an initial application window targeting roughly 5,000 units or more in the first phase.
The 642 cars cleared so far represent the first allocations under the mechanism for the remainder of the year. The annual ICE passenger-car quota is designed to rise gradually to a peak of 37,000 units in the fifth year before tapering, while duties across categories are phased down to 10%.
Separate schedules cover goods vehicles, while a TRQ for electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered passenger vehicles begins only from the sixth year, with protections for lower-priced models to support India’s domestic .
India-UK bilateral trade has continued to expand, with total trade in goods and services valued at about £48 billion in 2025, according to the UK government.
India’s merchandise exports to the UK stood at $13.44 billion in FY2025-26, while imports from the UK were $11.68 billion, according to Indian government data. Services trade was worth about $35.44 billion in 2024, with India recording a services surplus of nearly $7.9 billion.