Chennai flags off first CETA commercial consignments

CHENNAI: As the India-UK CETA came into force on Wednesday, the first commercial consignments valued at $4,46,046 were officially flagged off from Chennai.

The shipments were flagged off by Sutapa Choudhury, British deputy high commissioner for TN, Puducherry and Keralam and Rajalakshmi Devaraj, zonal additional director general of foreign trade, Chennai.

The inaugural event featured distinct consignments representing diverse sectors, such as gold jewellery exported by Emerald Jewel Industry India Limited (Coimbatore), Automotive Components exported by Brakes India (Chennai), cast wheels exported by Wheels India and leather footwear exported by Good Leather Shoes.

Showcasing India’s robust value-added food processing capabilities, APEDA facilitated a 50-metric-tonne consignment of agricultural and processed food products from TN. The shipment included 25 MT of Premium traditional rice, millets and jaggery powder exported by Rigel Spices, alongside 25 MT of frozen ready-to-eat food products from Visnukumar Traders.

Sutapa Choudhury emphasised the CETA represents a “new era of trade cooperation” and will strengthen the UK-India Vision 2035 by deepening investment ties, supporting climate action, and expanding collaboration in science, tech and education.