Coimbatore, April 10 -- India is in talks with twenty more countries to open market access and expand trade opportunities, says Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

While addressing the business leaders in Coimbatore on Friday, the minister noted that these negotiations aimed to build on the nine free trade agreements signed over the last three-and-a half years, which provided preferential access to 38 developed nations.

"We are in discussions with, apart from these 38 countries, at least 20 more countries to open market access in all of them," Goyal said. He mentioned the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Eurasian region, and Israel as participants in these ongoing trade talks.

Goyal explained that the government focused...