India and southeast Asian trading bloc Asean on Thursday concluded talks for freeing trade in goods that will create an European Union-style open market with a combined population of about 1.7 billion people.

A "key regional milestone" is how Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath described the Trade in Goods (TIG) agreement with the 10-member Asean.

The ministers have agreed to target implementation of tariff reduction commitments from January 1, 2009, said a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the Sixth Asean-India Consultations.

The deal would be formally signed during the India-Asean summit in Bangkok in December, by when officials from the two sides would finalise the text of the TIG agreement together with one on Dispute Settlement Mechanism.

"The countries of East Asia are important drivers of growth... with large consumption to drive global economies," Nath told a joint press conference of India-ASEAN economic ministers.

India and Asean currently enjoy a total trade of $ 38 billion and expect it to touch $ 50 billion by 2010.

The pact was supposed to have been reached last year, but talks were held up over differences on products that India wanted to exclude from tariff cuts. New Delhi had submitted a list of 1,414 products, while Asean's target number was 400.

Under the pact, India and Asean will eliminate import duties on 71 per cent of products by December 31, 2012 and another 9 per cent by 2015.

Duties on 8 to 10 per cent of the products that have been kept in the sensitive list will also be brought down to 5 per cent.