New Delhi: India has not included the minimum import price (MIP) provision for alcoholic beverages from the United Kingdon (UK) in the free trade agreement (FTA) between the countries as demanded by domestic liquor manufacturers to ensure level playing field, a government official said on Thursday.India has halved the tariffs, from 150% to 75% at entry level, which would come down to 40% after 10 years. There is no MIP for the sector, including those bottled in India in the trade agreement. However, the duty cut will not hurt Indian industry and consumers. It will create jobs in the bottling segment, the official said.Moreover, Scotch whisky is 2.5% of Indian whisky market, and there is no scope for increase in exports from the UK as it is a geographical indication (GI) product and produced in small quantities.Officials also said the tariff concession offered for the automobile industry has been extended, based on engine capacity for internal combustion engines (ICE), and on price bands for electric vehicles (EVs).Assuring that there would be no duty cuts on imports of low-cost futuristic cars, the official said that the cuts will be spaced out over 10 to 15 years by when one crore cars will be sold in India.121009505 The duties on automobiles and liquor products had held up growth in several other sectors along with the welfare of Indian consumers, the official said. UK-based suppliers would be allowed to bid for domestic tenders above Rs 200 crore as deemed Class 2 suppliers. A Class-II local supplier must have 20-50% local content in what they supply. Carve out is provided for our Make in India policy as well as small and medium enterprises, the official said.India will also reduce import duties on medical devices covered in the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme only from the sixth year onwards. Officials also said that the UK has, for the first time, agreed to grant Indian suppliers non-discriminatory treatment in its public procurement. Market access would be limited to non-sensitive central level entities, state level entities are excluded, he said.New Delhi expects its exports to rise to $60 billion in the next five years and to around $80-$90 billion in a decade, with tripling of jobs in goods and services. The implementation of the FTA could take as long as 15 months while the text of the agreement would be out in about three months.Trade Official to Visit US SoonA team of Indian trade negotiators will travel to Washington in the next two weeks to continue discussions on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between India and the US, a senior government official said.During the previous round of meetings held in Washington from April 23-25, the two had discussed a pathway for early mutual wins or an early tranche of the proposed BTA.