India and Oman signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on December 18, 2025, marking a significant milestone in India's Gulf trade diplomacy. The agreement is India's second CEPA with a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member state, after the UAE-India CEPA signed in February 2022.

Under the agreement, Oman will extend zero import duty on 98.08% of its tariff lines, giving Indian exporters near-complete duty-free access to the Omani market across goods. This covers a wide range of Indian exports including textiles, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, jewellery, and agricultural products. In return, India has offered concessions on a range of Omani products including petrochemicals, mineral resources, and select industrial goods.

The CEPA also covers trade in services — including IT/ITES, healthcare, financial services, and professional services — as well as bilateral investment. The bilateral trade between India and Oman stood at approximately $10.6 billion in FY2024-25, and the CEPA is expected to significantly expand this figure over the next decade.

Strategically, the agreement strengthens India's economic footprint in the Gulf region, which is home to approximately 8.9 million Indian diaspora — the largest Indian expatriate community globally. The Gulf remains a critical corridor for India's oil imports and remittances, with the UAE-India CEPA already showing early results in boosting bilateral trade post-2022.

The India-Oman CEPA is also aligned with India's broader trade strategy of concluding bilateral agreements with key partners ahead of a potential comprehensive GCC-India FTA, which has been under negotiation for over a decade.