While the Trans-Pacific Partnership – a trade agreement involving 12 countries including the US, Japan and Australia – has dominated headlines, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) as been also continuing negotiations with India.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi have set an ambitious target of signing a trade agreement before the end of the year.

DFAT assistant secretary Peter Roberts said the India talks were tough, with Australian negotiators battling with "strong protectionist sentiment … and technical market issues as well".

"Like Australia it's a federation, so sometimes you have different state taxes and charges as well. It's a complicated negotiation but we are working very hard on it," Mr Roberts told the Australian Grain Industry Conference in Melbourne.

But Mitsui Australia chief executive Yasushi Takahashi was confident an agreement would be signed before the end of 2015.

He cited Japan's signing of an economic agreement with India in 2011 as giving Australia hope it can meet its deadline.

"Japan is a very complex market and India is a very complex market, but I don't think many people know that between Japan and India there is already an FTA," Mr Takahashi said.

"If two complicated countries can agree on an FTA, anything can happen, so I'm optimistic. [Trade Minister] Andrew Robb is very enthusiastic about entering an agreement later this year and I believe him."

India is Australia's 12th-biggest trading partner with two-way trade worth   about $15 billion, according to DFAT. This compares with Australia's trade with China, its biggest trading partner, totalling about $160 billion.

Dr Andy Crane, the chief executive of Australia's biggest grains exporter, CBH, said "precious little" grain was being sent to India, but there was untapped potential in markets around the Indian Ocean Rim.

"Our ships go to north Asia and south-east Asia, and they're going to the Middle East. They're bypassing India. But for Australia, particularly Western Australia, in that Indian Ocean rim there are a lot of untapped markets."

Dr Crane said trade agreements were vital in ensuring Australia remained competitive, saying every day a product was delayed at a country's border equated to a 0.8 per cent tariff on trade.

But he warned of relying on free trade agreements to "save Australia's agricultural industry".

"We have a lot to do to put our own house in order. What we need to do is focus on the supply chain and focus on areas we can improve on."

He said the government needed to cut "red tape" to promote foreign investment, which would also ensure Australia remained competitive.

Negotiations with India are expected to enter their ninth round in August, after talks in New  Delhi earlier this month.

The latest discussions covered issues including market access for goods, services and investment, rules of origin; customs procedures and trade facilitation; technical barriers to trade; sanitary and phytosanitary measures, economic cooperation and legal and institutional issues.

It comes after the Australian government has signed trade agreements with Japan, Korea and China in the past 12 months.