Trading Partner Portal: India
Overview
Fact Sheet: The United States and India Announce Historic Trade Deal
The White House, February 9, 2026
Boom Time for India Promises Benefits for Relations/Trade with U.S., California
CalChamber, December 13, 2022
Interview Series Featuring California’s Key Trading Partners – Featuring Ambassador Dr. T.V. Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India in San Francisco: Robust Relations, Cross-Border Startups Create Jobs, Trade Benefits Across Sectors
CalChamber, January 8, 2021
Trade Overview
Over the last decade, India’s developing economy has emerged to become an important player in the global market. With a workforce of over 500 million —over three times the workforce of the U.S.—India has the human capacity to sustain large and rapid development.
India’s population makes up just over 17% of the world’s population, and the country makes up 2.4% of the world’s surface area. Its nominal GDP in 2024 totaled $3.89 trillion, and its populations totaled over 1.44 billion people.
As of 2025, India is the world’s 6th largest economy and remains one of the fastest growing economies. As both a service-based and an agricultural economy, the country has seen strong growth in both sectors. The service industry has become an integral component of the Indian economy, making up 65% of the GDP while containing only 28% of the workforce.
Agriculture, on the other hand, is the most popular sector, representing 55% of the workforce, but only 17% of the GDP. This sector specifically is expected to grow by 4% every year for the next decade. India Brand Equity Foundation
U.S. – India Trade
India is the United States 10th largest trading partner. In 2025, the United States exported $45.61 billion to India in goods. Top exports included oil & gas ($9.99 billion), chemicals ($5.66 billion), computer and electronic products ($4.47 billion), transportation equipment ($3.60 billion), and miscellaneous manufactures ($3.02 billion). Two-way goods trade totaled $149.43 billion in the same year.
The U.S imported a total of 103.82 billion in goods in 2025, the largest category of these imports being computer and electronic products at $27.53 billion. Imports that followed were chemicals ($21.47 billion), miscellaneous manufactures ($7.26 billion), non-electrical machinery ($5.70 billion), and apparel and accessories ($5.22 billion).
California – India Trade
India is currently California’s 13th largest export market. In 2025, California exports to India brought in over $4.62 billion. California is a top exporting state to India. Top export categories included agricultural products ($1.58 billion), computer and electronic products ($1.32 billion), miscellaneous manufactures ($469 million), chemicals ($227 million), and waste and scrap ($183 million).
In this same year imports from India to California totaled $10.03 billion. Top imports from India included computer and electronic products ($4.17 billion), petroleum and coal products ($1.36 billion), textile mill products ($459 million), miscellaneous manufactures ($457 million), and apparel and accessories ($430 million).
U.S. Department of Commerce
Tourism
Some 579,000 travelers visited California from India in 2024 and spent an estimated $1.50 billion in the state (Visit California). California is also the leading destination state for Indian immigrants, home to 20% of the total nationwide. the largest Indian communities in California were found in the Bay Area (Bay Area Council).
FDI – India
According to the most recent figures in 2024, U.S. total stock foreign direct investment to India was $58.54 billion while Indian direct investment into the U.S. was $16.4 billion (Bureau of Economic Analysis). Indian FDI supported 35,500 jobs and invested $18.2 million into research and development, with another $1.7 billion went to expanding U.S. exports. The top industry sectors for Indian FDI in the U.S. were: software and IT services, business services, pharmaceuticals, industrial equipment, metals, and communications. Select USA
In California, the eighteenth largest source of FDI through foreign-owned enterprises (FOEs) is India. Indian FOEs in California provided 10,037 jobs through 285 firms amounting to $1.42 billion in wages in 2024. The top jobs by sector are professional & business services, information, wholesale trade, manufacturing, and transportation, warehousing & utilities (World Trade Center Los Angeles FDI Report).
More Articles:
Seismic Shift – Economic Growth and Strategic Alignment Between the Bay Area and India
Bay Area Council, March 2023
Joint Statement from the United States – India Trade Policy Forum
U.S. Trade Representative, November 23, 2021
Trade Policy Review: India – World Trade Organization
Trade Agreements
India has multiple trade agreements and frameworks with a variety of countries around the world. It is a member of the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), the India ASEAN TIG (India ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement), Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP), and the WTO.
It holds free trade agreements (FTA’s) with Sri Lanka, Thailand, and as of 2026 the EU and New Zealand. India also participates in an FTA known as the South Asia Free Trade Agreement. India also holds Preferential Trade Agreements with roughly 41 countries and MERCOSUR
The most notable trade agreement being the recent announcement of a trade deal being reached with the United States. Both leaders of the two countries reached a framework for an interim agreement on reciprocal trade and reaffirmed their commitment to broader U.S.-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations.
Profile in Trade
What You Need to Know Before Exporting to India
The U.S. Commercial Service specifically notes the following where there is market entry opportunities and growth potential:
Aerospace
- At $16 billion, India’s aviation market is currently the 9th largest in the world and is expected to be the 3rd largest by 2020, and by 2030, potentially the largest.
- The Government of India is advancing $110 billion in civil aviation expansion and modernization projects through 2020.
- KPMG recently estimated India would require over 250 brown field and green field airports by 2020.
Agriculture
- India is an agrarian economy and more than fifty-two percent of the land area is considered arable.
- The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has an initiative to establish 42 mega food parks, 133 Cold Chain projects, 38 Abattoir projects, 101 Food Testing Laboratories and to provide assistance to 7,381 food processing firms for technology upgrades and modernization. The goal is to increase the level of processed food from the current 10 percent to 20 percent by 2019.
- India is known for a fledgling cold chain, which results in supply chain losses of food and other resources. The losses in agricultural sector alone are estimated at $14 billion annually due to inadequate infrastructure.
Defense
- India has the 3rd largest armed forces in the world and plans to spend billions in defense acquisitions over the next several years.
- India is the 4th largest defense spender, according to IHS Jane’s latest annual Defense Budgets report.
- It is one of the largest importers of conventional defense equipment in the world, importing approximately 60% of its defense requirements, according to the Government of India.
Energy
- India has the 5th largest power generation installed capacity in the world. Coal dominates the energy mix at 60 percent, but renewable sources are quickly expanding their share.
- The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is developing a National Energy Storage Policy to fast–track adoption of new technologies in India.
- India has ambitious targets to continually increase the percentage of renewables within the overall mix of energy sources (15 percent in 2016) to 40 percent by 2030.
Healthcare
- The Indian healthcare industry is expected to reach $280 billion by 2020 due to increased demand for specialized and quality healthcare facilities.
- The Indian medical device market is worth an estimated $4.4 billion (without the inclusion of rural market potential) and is expected to exceed $7 billion by the end of 2020.
- Imports constitute fifty percent of the market for diagnostic kits, reagents, hand-held diagnostic equipment, and simulation for operating rooms. Hand-held/portable diagnostic equipment is also a fast-growing segment since India has around 45 million diabetics, which is expected to swell to 70 million by 2025.
Security
- The Indian cyber security market is currently estimated at $2.1 billion and growing at 10 percent annually.
- According to a leading security software firm, India ranked 3rd on a list of countries worldwide where the highest number of cyber threats were detected and 2nd in terms of targeted attacks in 2017.
- The Indian information technology trade association, the National Association of Software and Services Companies, expects the Indian IT industry to achieve a market size of $350-400 billion by 2025, and that the cybersecurity product and services segment would be $35 billion by 2025.
Events
Boom Time for India Promises Benefits for Relations/Trade with U.S., California
(December 13, 2022) Trade and investment opportunities in India were the focus of attention at last week’s international breakfast meeting of the CalChamber Council for International Trade.
Ambassador Dr. Nagendra Prasad, consul general of India in San Francisco, and Ambassador Atul Keshap, president of the U.S.-India Business Council, pointed out the many historical and economic connections between California and India.
Both ambassadors commented that shared democratic values are an important component of the strategic partnership between India and the United States.
The December 9 breakfast meeting was sponsored by CalChamber Board member companies Ernst & Young LLP, Deloitte LLP, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.