Guidelines for ₹25,000cr Export Promotion Mission to be released soon
What's the story
The Indian government is set to unveil guidelines for the ₹25,060 crore Export Promotion Mission (EPM), Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. The mission was approved on November 12 with a budget spread over six financial years starting from 2025-26. It aims to help exporters cope with high tariffs imposed by the US. The EPM will be implemented through two sub-schemes: Niryat Protsahan (₹10,401 crore) and Niryat Disha (₹14,659 crore).
Sectoral support
EPM to support sectors affected by global tariff hikes
The EPM will provide priority support to sectors affected by recent global tariff hikes. These include textiles, leather, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, and marine products. The US has imposed a steep 50% tariff on Indian goods since August 27. This has led to an 8.58% decline in India's merchandise exports to the US in October (to $6.3 billion).
Trade diversification
Government's efforts to diversify trade
In light of the export dip to the US, Goyal said there was a decline in 3-4 sectors. The ministry is working to help exporters diversify their trade. For instance, he noted that the European Union has approved an additional 108 domestic fishery units for marine product supply. Russia is also approving 25 Indian fishery units as part of these diversification efforts.
Mission focus
EPM's focus on MSMEs and non-financial enablers
Under the Niryat Protsahan of the EPM, the focus will be on improving access to affordable trade finance for MSMEs. This will be done via a range of instruments like interest subvention, export factoring, collateral guarantees, credit cards for the e-commerce exporters, and credit enhancement support for diversification into new markets. Meanwhile, under the Niryat Disha funds will be used for non-financial enablers like assistance with international branding and packaging.