Export Promotion Schemes
Highlighted in WTO
Ř Free Trade Agreements to Expand Export
Opportunities, Enhance Market Access and Address Non-Tariff Barriers
Ř Export Promotion Mission, E-Commerce Export
Hubs and Logistics Reforms Drive Cross-Border E-Commerce Exports
1.
Strategy
to Diversify Export Markets
o The Government has launched multiple
initiatives to diversify export destinations in response to changing global
geopolitical and economic conditions.
2.
Expansion
of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
o India has expanded its network of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
and Comprehensive Economic
Partnership/Cooperation Agreements (CEPAs/CECAs).
o Trade negotiations with major economies
and regions are ongoing to secure preferential market access for Indian
exporters.
3.
Export
Promotion Initiatives
o Export promotion activities are being
undertaken through:
§ Export Promotion Mission (EPM)
§ Indian Missions abroad
§ Export Promotion Councils (EPCs)
§ Industry associations and other
stakeholders.
4.
Districts
as Export Hubs (DEH)
o The Districts
as Export Hubs (DEH) initiative promotes district- and
sector-specific export strategies.
o Each district identifies 3–5 products or services
with export potential for targeted support.
5.
Objectives
of FTAs
o FTAs aim to:
§ Expand bilateral trade and investment.
§ Improve market access.
§ Enhance export opportunities.
§ Support industry and farmers.
§ Generate employment.
§ Promote labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, apparel and leather goods.
6.
Addressing
Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs)
o FTAs include provisions on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
to improve transparency and regulatory cooperation.
o The Government engages with partner
countries through:
§ Joint Committees and Working Groups.
§ Bilateral consultations.
§ Discussions on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)
measures.
§ Standards, conformity assessment and
regulatory requirements.
§ Continuous stakeholder consultations to
improve market access, particularly in the EU, Africa and Southeast Asia.
7.
Export
Promotion Mission (EPM)
o Launched in 2025 with an outlay of ₹25,060 crore for
FY2025–26 to FY2030–31.
o Operates through two sub-schemes:
§ NIRYAT PROTHSAHAN – supports export finance through
interest subvention, export factoring, collateral guarantees, e-commerce export
credit guarantees and credit enhancement.
§ NIRYAT DISHA – supports export quality, compliance,
branding, packaging, market access, logistics, warehousing and trade
intelligence.
8.
E-Commerce
Export Hubs (ECEH)
o Pilot implementation of E-Commerce Export Hubs
to provide integrated logistics, customs clearance and export-related services.
9.
District
Export Hub Framework
o DEH provides decentralized export
promotion by focusing on products and services with district-specific export
potential.
10. Courier Export Reforms
o RBI has simplified export reconciliation
for shipments up to ₹10
lakh through the Export Data Processing and Monitoring System
(EDPMS).
o The ₹10
lakh per-consignment limit for exports through courier mode has
been removed.
o Reverse logistics have been simplified
through easier re-import of export rejects and returned goods for cross-border
e-commerce exports.
11. PM Gati Shakti
o The PM
Gati Shakti National Master Plan supports integrated multimodal
infrastructure planning to reduce logistics costs.
12. RoDTEP Scheme
o The Refund
of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP)
scheme refunds unrebated duties, taxes and levies embedded in exported
products.
13. MSME Export Facilitation Centres
o The Ministry of MSME has established 65 Export Facilitation Centres (EFCs)
across the country to provide mentoring and handholding support to MSME
exporters.
14. International Cooperation Scheme
o The Ministry of MSME's International Cooperation (IC) Scheme
assists MSMEs through participation in international exhibitions, trade fairs,
conferences, seminars and buyer-seller meets, while reimbursing eligible
participation costs.
·
These
initiatives seek to expand
market access, diversify export destinations, strengthen export
competitiveness, facilitate cross-border e-commerce, reduce logistics and
compliance costs, and increase the participation of MSMEs, startups, artisans
and other small exporters in global trade.
Government has undertaken several initiatives
to diversify export markets in light of evolving global geopolitical and economic
developments. These include expanding network of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and
Comprehensive Economic Partnership/Cooperation Agreements (CEPAs/CECAs); pursuing
trade negotiations with major economies and regions to secure preferential market
access for exporters; undertaking focused export promotion activities through Export
Promotion Mission, Indian Missions overseas, Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), industry
associations and other stakeholders; implementing district and sector-specific export
promotion initiatives under the Districts as Export Hubs (DEH) initiative; and capacity-building
programmes.
A list of trade agreements signed in the
past few years is at Annexure I. Further, a list of ongoing FTAs is at Annexure
II.
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are entered
into with the concerned trading partner countries primarily with the aim of increasing
bilateral trade through enlarging the scope of market access and building on the
trade complementarities for increasing trade and investment, thereby providing enhanced
export potential, creating benefits for industry and farmers and enhancing job opportunities.
The FTAs facilitate preferential market access for labour intensive sector products
to boost growth and employment opportunities in sectors like textile, apparel and
leather goods. FTAs endeavor to deliver a comprehensive,
balanced, broad based and equitable agreement based on the principle of fairness
and reciprocity and overall benefit to all the stakeholders.
The FTAs include provisions on Technical
Barriers to Trade to promote mutual understanding of each sides’ standards, technical
regulations, and measures to enhance transparency. These provisions facilitate smoother
and more effective access to export markets for Indian goods. Government engages
with its trading partners through bilateral, regional and multilateral mechanisms
to address non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and improve market access for Indian exports.
These includes holding regular meetings and direct talks with partners through Joint
Committees and Working Groups established under trade agreements to solve specific
export problems to align with emerging global requirements, consultations with partner
countries to resolve market access issues, technical discussions on sanitary and
phytosanitary (SPS) measures, technical barriers to trade (TBT), standards, conformity
assessment procedures and regulatory requirements and continuous engagement with
stakeholders to identify and address market access concerns in key export destinations,
including the European Union, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Government has undertaken various policy
and facilitation measures to promote cross-border e-commerce exports, particularly
for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), startups, artisans and other small
exporters. Key initiatives include:
i. Export Promotion Mission (EPM): The Export
Promotion Mission (EPM) was launched in 2025 to strengthen India’s export competitiveness
with a total outlay of ₹25,060 crore for the period FY 2025–26 to FY 2030–31.
The EPM shall operate through two integrated sub-schemes:
·
NIRYAT PROTHSAHAN, focused on improving access to trade finance through instruments
such as interest subvention, export factoring, collateral guarantees for export
credit, credit guarantee for e-commerce exporters, and credit enhancement support;
and
·
NIRYAT DISHA, focused on other trade enablers such as export quality and
compliance support, international branding and packaging, market access initiatives,
export logistics & warehousing, and trade intelligence.
ii. Implementation of the E-Commerce Export
Hub (ECEH) initiative on a pilot basis to create an integrated ecosystem for e-commerce
exports by facilitating logistics, customs clearances and other export-related services.
iii. The District Export Hub (DEH) Initiative
provides the district-level framework for decentralised export promotion. In each
district, the effort is to identify and prioritise 3–5 products/services with viable
export potential for targeted interventions.
iv. Reforms to simplify exports through courier
mode and reduce compliance burden:
·
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed export reconciliation requirements
for small-value exports up to ₹10 lakh by permitting closure of export transactions
in the Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS) on the basis of declarations
furnished by exporters and reconciliation undertaken by banks.
The per-consignment value limit of ₹10
lakh for exports through courier mode has been removed vide DGFT Notification No.
67/2025–26 dated March 27, 2026 and CBIC Notification No. 34/2026 dated March 31,
2026.
CBIC Notification No. 33/2026 dated March
31, 2026 has simplified reverse logistics by facilitating the re-import of export
rejects and returned goods in respect of cross-border e-commerce exports.
v. PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP)
was launched to facilitate data-based decisions related to integrated planning of
multimodal infrastructure, thereby reducing logistics cost.
vi. Refund of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products
(RoDTEP) Scheme aims to refund currently un-refunded duties/taxes/levies
borne on the export product, including prior stage cumulative indirect taxes on
goods and services used in production of the exported products.
vii. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises has established 65 Export Facilitation Centers
(EFCs) in its field offices across the country with the aim of providing requisite
mentoring and handholding support to MSMEs in exporting their products and services.
viii. International Cooperation (IC) Scheme of
Ministry of MSME aims to build capacity of MSMEs by facilitating their participation
in international exhibitions/fairs/conferences/seminar/buyer-seller meets abroad
as well as reimbursement of various costs.
This information was given
by Minister of State for
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Jitin Prasada
in a written reply in Lok Sabha on 21 July, 2026.
Annexure I
India’s recent Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
|
Sl.No. |
Name of the Agreement |
Date of signing |
Date of implementation |
|
1 |
India - Mauritius Comprehensive
Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) |
22nd February, 2021 |
1st April, 2021 |
|
2 |
India-UAE CEPA |
18th February, 2022 |
1 st May 2022 |
|
3 |
India-Australia Economic Cooperation
and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) |
2nd April, 2022 |
29th December 2022. |
|
4 |
India-European Free Trade Association
(EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) |
10th March 2024 |
01st October 2025 |
|
5 |
India – Oman CEPA |
18th December 2025 |
1st June, 2026 |
|
6 |
India - UK Comprehensive Economic and
Trade Agreement (CETA) |
24th July 2025 |
15th July, 2026 |
|
7 |
India-New Zealand FTA |
27th April 2026 |
Under ratification process |
Note: India-European Union FTA negotiations concluded
on January 27th, 2026. Also, India and the United States of America have announced
on 7th February 2026 that the USA and India have reached a framework for an Interim
Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade (Interim Agreement).
Negotiations are ongoing.
Annexure II
Free Trade Agreements/CECA/CEPA/ETCA under
negotiation
1. India-Eurasian Economic Union (India-EAEU)
FTA
2. India – Peru Free Trade Agreement
3. India – Chile FTA
4. India – Israel FTA
5. India – Canada CEPA
6. India – Maldives FTA
7. India – Korea CEPA Upgraded Negotiation
(Upgrade)
8. India – Sri Lanka ETCA (Upgrade)
9. India – Australia Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement (CECA) (Upgrade)
10. ASEAN - India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA)
(Review)