Annual Outlay for Export Promotion Up by Just Rs 500 Cr Under New Mission
The Mission’s total outlay of Rs 25,060 crore over six years is less than Rs 4200 crore per year
Chennai: Under the Export Promotion Mission, the government has increased annual outlay for the export-centric sectors by just over Rs 500 crore. Exporters are still awaiting clarity on the details of the scheme as just four months are left for the financial year to end.
The Mission’s total outlay of Rs 25,060 crore over six years is less than Rs 4200 crore per year. This allocation is insufficient when several export sectors are going through tough times due to US tariffs.
The government has been allocating funds for the promotion of exports, mainly through Interest Equalization Scheme and Market Access Initiative. The funds for the schemes have been subsumed into the new Export Promotion Mission.
The government has been allocating around Rs 3500 crore towards Interest Equalization Scheme and it was Rs 3488 crore in FY22. In FY25, it came down close to Rs 3000 crore and has not yet been paid in FY26. For the MAI scheme, which is used to promote Indian exports in new markets, the allocation has been Rs 200 crore. Both schemes together had allocations of around Rs 3700 crore. Under the Export Promotion Mission, the government has increased the total allocation by Rs 500 crore.
According to GTRI, the financial resources needed for activities, such as branding, packaging, trade fairs, compliance, and logistics apart from interest subvention do not match the Mission’s ambition.
“Although the Mission covers FY 2025–26 to FY 2030–31, eight months of FY 2025–26 have already passed. Older schemes like MAI and IES, which operated until last year, have made no payouts this year- leaving exporters unsupported during a difficult global environment,” it said.
“We are waiting for the details of the schemes under the mission. We hope that the government will implement the schemes at the earliest,” said Pankaj Chadha, chairman, EEPC.
According to GTRI, there are institutional challenges as well. DGFT has been appointed the implementing agency, but key financial schemes like interest subvention were earlier run by banks under RBI supervision. Banks link such disbursements with pre and post-shipment finance. “DGFT will need to invest in new learning to discharge this function. This may slow approvals and create operational delays,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder, GTRI.
