India will honour the duty concession it offered on Scotch whisky under its trade agreement with the United Kingdom, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Friday, November 13, adding that the dispute over bulk Scotch consignments held at Indian ports would be resolved very soon.

Source: Reuters via The Hindu BusinessLine

"Department of Revenue is working to resolve it. Classification is among the key issues. It should be resolved very soon. We are very hopeful that it would be resolved in some days," Agrawal said at a media briefing, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via NewsGoLive

The dispute centres on classification. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has treated bulk Scotch imported for blending and manufacture in India as "compound alcoholic preparations" rather than finished whisky, which would attract 150 per cent duty instead of the 75 per cent preferential rate under the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which came into effect on July 15, 2026.

A confidential DRI memo dated November 4, reviewed by Reuters, directed customs commissioners to keep applying the higher duty. Industry bodies — the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) and the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) — met Agrawal to press their case, and officials of the Commerce and Finance ministries have since discussed the issue.

The Scotch Whisky Association has estimated the trade agreement could raise the value of Scotch trade with India by $1.34 billion over five years. Industry representatives have described the classification row as a technical issue, but one that could undercut the market-access benefits the pact was meant to deliver.

What happens next: the Department of Revenue is expected to settle the classification in the coming days, which will decide whether the held consignments of companies including Diageo and Pernod Ricard clear at 75 per cent or face the 150 per cent rate.