Switzerland's import appetite for Indian goods grows at steady pace

The Bilateral Momentum: India-Switzerland Trade Reaches $2.66 Billion as TEPA Opens New Corridors

Bilateral merchandise trade between India and Switzerland climbed to $2.66 billion in 2025, marking a 3.03% year-over-year increase from $2.58 billion in 2024. The trajectory reflects steady expansion through 2022-2025, with volumes oscillating around the $2.8 billion mark — a baseline that underpins a relationship deepening far beyond the headline figures.

What matters most is not the aggregate number but its composition. The Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between the EFTA states and India entered into force on October 1, 2025, reshaping which products move across this trade corridor and at what cost. Switzerland grants duty-free access to 98% of India's industrial exports, erasing tariffs overnight on categories that historically faced friction.

Where the Growth Lives: Organic Chemicals Lead, Jewellery and Textiles Climb

Organic chemicals dominate the bilateral trade relationship — $901.6 million in 2025 exports to Switzerland. The major items of Indian exports to Switzerland are organic chemicals, pearls, precious stones and jewellery, textiles and garments, dyestuffs, electrical machinery and parts, leather products, shoes and shoe uppers, cotton, plastics, coffee.

Jewellery and precious stones follow at $288.6 million, while machinery and mechanical appliances contribute $360.5 million. Textiles and related products stand at $114.4 million. Vegetables and agricultural goods reach $104.8 million.

The chemical sector tells the story of industrial complementarity. India is the world's sixth-largest chemical manufacturer and the third-largest in Asia. India's chemical production is primarily centered in Gujarat and Maharashtra. This geographic concentration means that tariff barriers under TEPA disproportionately benefit small-and-medium enterprises in these states, which control the bulk of the sector's export operations to Europe.

Jewellery exports hinge on India's position as a global diamond processor. India is the world's largest exporter of cut and polished diamonds. Swiss buyers — luxury retailers, jewellery houses, and financial centres managing precious metal flows — absorb a steady volume of finished pieces and loose stones.

TEPA as Structural Inflection: What Changes Now

The agreement is also advantageous for Indian exporters, particularly those in the organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food processing industries, targeting the EFTA and Swiss markets. Before TEPA's entry into force, Swiss tariffs on many chemical categories hovered between 0% and 5%, but the certainty of zero duty removes calculation and delay. For pharmaceutical intermediates — India's fastest-growing export category to Switzerland — the removal of data protection and patent opposition friction matters as much as tariff cuts.

Indian exporters in sectors like machinery, organic chemicals, textiles, and processed foods will enjoy significantly improved access to EFTA markets though TEPA. For textiles specifically, the opportunity remains underdeveloped. The European Free Trade Association imports nearly $14 billion worth of textiles annually, yet India's share of this vast market has been just 0.35%, representing only $130 million in exports. TEPA removes the tariff excuse; execution now matters.

The apparel sector in India stands positioned to capture premium market share. For Indian exporters, Switzerland is by far the most important market within EFTA. In 2024, India ranked as the 7th largest supplier of apparel and textiles to Switzerland, holding a 3.5% share of the country's total imports. Out of the $367.63 million worth of textiles imported from India, apparel accounted for almost 85%.

This concentration points to untapped potential in garment exports — where India already manufactures at scale but has yet to fully penetrate the premium segment that Switzerland and Norway demand.

Employment and Livelihoods: Where Trade Meets Work

The chemical exports supporting bilateral trade employ large clusters of workers across India. The industry employs around 2 million people in India. Of these, India's chemical production is primarily centered in Gujarat and Maharashtra. However, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are the other states that produce centrally.

In Gujarat's chemical belt — Vadodara, Ankleshwar, and Bharuch — TEPA will allow existing exporters to expand production without tariff drag. Industry multipliers suggest roughly 1.5 to 2 indirect jobs created for every direct manufacturing job. Export-oriented chemical firms in these clusters employ an estimated 180,000 to 240,000 workers directly; TEPA's tariff elimination could support ancillary job creation across logistics, packaging, and support services.

Leather and footwear exports to Switzerland show similar clustering dynamics. Major footwear and leather products producing states in India are Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir. The industry employs about 4.42 million people in the country. It is a prominent source of employment in the rural parts of India with women employed at about 30% in the sector.

Tamil Nadu dominates leather production and exports. Vellore alone contributes about 37% of the US$6.5 billion in leather exports. TEPA's immediate tariff removal on leather garments and footwear components benefits tanneries and manufacturers in Vellore, Ranipet, and Ambur — towns where leather work sustains entire family lineages and local economies. Women comprise roughly 30% of the direct workforce in these clusters; tariff-led export growth translates to household income stability in rural Tamil Nadu.

Gems and jewellery exports — the third-largest bilateral export — centre on Mumbai and Bangalore. The industry employs more than five million skilled and semi-skilled workforces in the country. TEPA's duty-free access strengthens the value chain for Indian polishers competing against East African and other suppliers serving the Swiss premium market.

Textiles remain a major opportunity zone for job creation. It is also the second largest employer after agriculture, providing direct employment to 45 million people and 100 million people in the allied sector. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Jharkhand and Gujarat are the top textile and clothing manufacturing states in India. Under TEPA, apparel exporters in these states can now compete in Switzerland's premium segment without tariff disadvantage against EU competitors — potentially unlocking tens of thousands of new spinning, weaving, and garment assembly jobs.

Looking Forward: Investment and Expansion

TEPA is not a classic free-trade agreement, as it lays down far-reaching and unprecedented objectives on foreign direct investment in India: USD 100 billion within the next 15 years and the creation of one million jobs. For India-Switzerland bilateral trade, this commitment signals more than tariff relief — it signals structural investment in manufacturing and R&D that will reposition India inside global supply chains, not merely at their periphery.

Currently, about 330 Swiss firms operate in India across engineering, pharmaceuticals, finance, and cleantech sectors, generating employment for over 166,000 people. TEPA's investment commitment may accelerate this base, particularly in pharmaceutical manufacturing and precision engineering — sectors where Swiss technical expertise and Indian cost structures create natural synergy.

The $2.66 billion baseline of bilateral trade will test itself against TEPA's machinery. The agreement removes the tariff excuse; execution now determines whether India's exporters can move volume at premium prices, whether Swiss investment capital finds home in Indian factories, and whether the 45 million textile workers and 4.4 million leather artisans can build careers, not merely jobs. The numbers say growth is coming. The human outcomes depend on scale, speed, and whether export gains reach the clusters where they matter most.