The government on Friday (January 2, 2026) launched two new components of the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) aimed at easing and reducing the cost of the credit access process for exporters.

This comes days after the Ministry of Commerce and Industry notified guidelines for a market access scheme under the EPM. With Friday’s (January 2) launches, three out of 11 schemes under the EPM, which itself was announced in Budget 2025 and received Cabinet approval in November, have now been operationalised.

The two schemes announced on Friday (January 2) would entail an outlay of ₹5,181 crore over six years until 2030-31.

While the market access scheme was under the Niryat Disha aspect of the EPM, aimed at helping exporters become more competitive, the two schemes launched on Friday (January 2) were under the Niryat Protsahan category, which is meant to lower the cost of credit for exporters.

The Interest Subvention for Pre- and Post-Shipment Export Credit scheme will reduce the cost of export finance and “strengthens MSME liquidity, improves competitiveness, and supports India’s integration into global value chains, while ensuring fiscal prudence and compliance”, the Ministry of Commerce said in its announcement. 

“Eligible MSME exporters can avail interest subvention on rupee export credit (pre- and post-shipment) extended by scheduled banks, in accordance with RBI Master Directions,” it added.

The second sub-scheme — Collateral Support for Export Credit — is aimed at giving MSME exporters the ability to access bank credit even with limited collateral or third-party guarantees.

The scheme will be implemented through the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) on a pilot basis and will be applicable to export-linked working capital loans. MSME exporters exporting notified tariff lines will be eligible for the collateral support.

Micro & small exporters would be eligible for up to 85% guarantee, while medium exporters would be capped at a 65% guarantee. The overall guarantee ceiling would be ₹10 crore per exporter for the current financial year. This will be reviewed periodically. 

Exporters are required to file an intent to access credit on the Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s portal, following which the bank would assess the proposal. If it meets the requirements, the CGTMSE would issue the guarantee and the exporter would receive the credit.

The government is likely to issue guidelines for at least some of the schemes under the recently-approved Export Promotion Mission (EPM) this week, according to sources in the know. 

The Union Cabinet approved the EPM in November 2025. It had been announced in Budget 2025. The Mission would have an outlay of ₹25,060 crore for the period 2025-26 to 2030-31.  

The Mission would have two sub-schemes. Niryat Protsahan would focus on improving access to trade finance and credit for exporters, especially MSMEs. The second sub-scheme, Niryat Disha, is to focus on non-financial ways to enhance Indian exporters’ readiness to compete globally.

However, with nearly a month and half having elapsed since then, the rules and guidelines to implement these sub-schemes have still not been released. 

“A series of guidelines need to be issued, with a couple coming this week,” an official in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry told The Hindu. This was confirmed by The Hindu with a second official in the Ministry as well. 

The government on Wednesday (November 12, 2025) approved an Export Promotion Mission with an outlay of ₹25,060 crore for six financial years, beginning this fiscal, a move which will help exporters deal with high tariffs imposed by the U.S.

The mission will be implemented through two sub-schemes — Niryat Protsahan (₹10,401 crore) and Niryat Disha (₹14,659 crore).

It is a very comprehensive mission and it will support the complete export ecosystem, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnav told reporters here.

Under the mission, priority support will be extended to sectors impacted by recent global tariff escalations, such as textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and marine products.

The measure will help insulate domestic exporters from the high tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Indian goods. The U.S. has imposed a hefty 50% tariff on Indian goods, starting August 27.

Under Niryat Protsahan, focus will be given to improve access to affordable trade finance for MSMEs through a range of instruments such as interest subvention, export factoring, collateral guarantees, credit cards for e-commerce exporters, and credit enhancement support for diversification into new markets.

Similarly under the Niryat Disha, focus will be there on non-financial enablers that enhance market readiness and competitiveness, including export quality and compliance support, assistance for international branding, packaging, and participation in trade fairs, export warehousing and logistics, inland transport reimbursements, and trade intelligence and capacity-building initiatives.

It is expected to facilitate access to affordable trade finance for MSMEs, enhance export readiness through compliance and certification support, and improve market access and visibility for Indian products.

The mission is designed to directly address structural challenges that constrain Indian exports, including limited and expensive trade finance access, high cost of compliance with international export standards, inadequate export branding and fragmented market access, and logistical disadvantages for exporters in interior and low-export-intensity regions.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will act as the implementing agency, with all processes — from application to disbursal — being managed through a dedicated digital platform integrated with existing trade systems.

India’s exports grew 6.74% to $36.38 billion in September, while imports jumped 16.6%, widening the trade deficit to $31.15 billion, the highest in over a year.

Cumulatively, during April-September this year, exports increased by 3.02% to $220.12 billion, while imports rose 4.53% to $375.11 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $154.99 billion.

On August 11, 2025, the central government implored India’s seafood industry, that provides livelihoods to about 28 million people, to “bravely face” the U.S.’s tariffs of 25% that kicked in on August 7, 2025 and which could be raised to 50% on August 27, 2025, contingent upon the outcome of trade negotiations. On August 13, 2025, highly placed sources in the Commerce and Finance Ministries told The Hindu that the government is exploring “tweaking” the Export Promotion Mission (EPM), that was announced in the 2025 Union Budget, with an outlay of ₹2,250 crore for the current fiscal year. The EPM, a multi-Ministry project to drive access to cheaper export credit, overcome non-trade barriers and insure payments from overseas buyers, focuses on India’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). Initially meant to be driven by the Ministries of Commerce, MSME and Finance, discussions are on to include the Textiles and Fisheries Ministries. These two industries, which collectively support about 135 million Indians, form among the largest segment of MSMEs that are likely to face the most impact due to the sanctions. The U.S. typically accounts for roughly a third of India’s apparel and seafood exports annually.

The government’s imploration to also diversify into other markets is a tacit admission that the Bilateral Trade Agreement negotiations with the U.S. are deadlocked, and that the personal equations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S President Donald Trump have not translated into a win for either side. Bilateral relations have arguably hit a level lower than during the Cold War, as the two nations were not as enmeshed as they are now, economically, culturally and militarily. Trade and service routes and supply chains take decades to build and undoing them overnight is not possible. This has been clear from the European Union’s reliance on Russian oil and the global dependence on rare earth elements from China. While consultations have been ongoing between the government and MSME sector stakeholders ever since Mr. Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” in April, there is a chorus now for drastic governmental intervention to safeguard the backbone of the economy — it contributes nearly half (45.79% in FY25) of goods exports and employs over 28 crore people. The fisheries sector has sought a 240-day moratorium on pre- and post-shipment credit repayment, while the textiles, apparel and gem and jewellery sectors want interest subvention. The government has, however, ruled out direct subsidies. But unprecedented challenges require novel responses. The government must include in its arsenal a drastic refashioning of near-term trade ties with neighbours, in particular, China, which it had ignored in the hope that the assiduous cultivation of ties with Washington would pay off.