New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- India's steel exporters could get significantly more duty-free access to the European Union (EU) than envisaged in the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA), with a new quota regime covering up to 2.8 million tonnes of annual shipments even before the FTA takes effect.

India has secured a 1.9 million-tonne annual country-specific quota for steel exports to the EU, while exporters could access another 0.9 million tonnes through residual quotas on a first-come, first-served basis, a senior government official said.

Early access

Indian steel exporters have already started benefiting from the new quota regime, even though the wider India-EU FTA is not yet in force. The EU's new steel import regime took effect on 1 July...