FTAs and their discontents: Do free trade agreements benefit India?

India's balance of trade has worsened with countries with which it has signed free trade agreements

India’s new-found eagerness to sign a slew of free trade pacts with key trading partners has revived the old question of whether the existing free trade deals have actually benefited the country.
 

Till date, India has signed 13 free trade agreements (FTAs), key among them being Japan, South Korea and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) grouping.
 

During the first half of the current fiscal (April-September), imports from these Southeast Asian countries grew at a much faster pace compared to exports. For the 10-member ASEAN nations, imports grew 56.33 per cent compared to an 11.61 per cent growth in