In January 2026, India’s import duty on Swiss watches dropped from 18.86 to 15.71 percent. This is the second annual reduction under the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association, in force since October 2025. The schedule continues in equal annual steps, reaching zero by January 2031. Each step is precisely calibrated, with a clear endpoint and a structural logic that distinguishes it from short-term policy adjustments.
The schedule was the result of sixteen years of negotiation between India and EFTA, signed in March 2024 and ratified in October 2025. It runs in the opposite direction from US trade policy, which imposed 39-percent duties on Swiss watches in 2025 before partially reversing course.
How the TEPA agreement lowers the tariff to zero, year by year
The immediate effect on consumer prices is moderate. Most Swiss watch brands operate on globally aligned retail pricing, which means that a Rolex Submariner or a Patek Philippe Nautilus does not become structurally cheaper in Mumbai because the duty fell. Brands absorb part of the reduction into margin recovery and reinvestment in retail infrastructure. The visible effect for buyers is access, not discount.
The deeper effect is structural. Lower duties reduce the incentive for grey-market purchasing abroad. Buyers who previously acquired watches in Dubai, Singapore, or Switzerland to avoid the 22-percent duty now find official Indian retail competitive on convenience, warranty, and authentication. This formalises the Indian luxury watch market.
Boutique expansion as the second-order effect
Swiss brands are responding with capital investment. Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, IWC, and Vacheron Constantin are expanding monobrand boutique presence in Mumbai and Delhi. Bengaluru and Hyderabad are emerging as the next-tier targets, supported by the World Economic Forum’s documentation of consumer growth decentralising across India’s Tier II and Tier III cities. This forms part of the Swiss watch industry’s broader strategic repositioning following the contraction of Chinese demand.
The wider market context confirms the trajectory. Swiss watch exports to India grew 25.2 percent in 2024 and held the position of fastest-growing market globally in 2025, against a worldwide contraction of 1.7 percent. The full picture, including the cultural and consumer-behaviour shift behind the policy change, is laid out in the analysis of India’s luxury watch market and the new geographies of power.
