Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal says both India and the European Union are working to resolve pending issues in the proposed free trade agreement.
Goyal mentioned that if there were no sensitive issues, the agreement could have been concluded 18 years ago.
The tenth round of negotiations for the free trade agreement took place in Brussels last month, with the next round scheduled to be held in New Delhi in May.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani expressed the importance of signing the agreement soon and emphasized the potential for trade and joint ventures between Italian and Indian companies.