Guidelines For Rs 25,060-Cr Export Promotion Mission To Be Issued Next Week: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, Nov 24 (KNN) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said guidelines for the Rs 25,060-crore Export Promotion Mission (EPM) will be issued next week, outlining the scheme’s components and the benefits it will offer to industry. 

The Cabinet approved the mission on November 12, with funding allocated over six financial years starting 2025–26 to support exporters facing steep tariff barriers in the United States.

The EPM will operate through two sub-schemes — Niryat Protsahan, with an outlay of Rs 10,401 crore, and Niryat Disha, with Rs 14,659 crore, reported PTI. 

Under Niryat Protsahan, the government will focus on improving access to affordable trade finance for MSMEs through interest subvention, export factoring, collateral guarantees, e-commerce export credit cards and credit enhancement for entering new markets. 

Niryat Disha will fund non-financial support measures such as international branding and packaging, participation in trade fairs, export warehousing and logistics, inland transport reimbursements, and initiatives related to trade intelligence and capacity building.

Goyal said the mission will prioritise sectors most affected by recent tariff hikes, including textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and marine products. 

These categories have seen a notable decline in shipments to the US, which imposed a 50 percent import duty on Indian goods from August 27.

India’s exports to the US fell 8.58 percent in October to USD 6.3 billion, contributing to an 11.8 percent contraction in overall merchandise exports, which dropped to USD 34.38 billion. 

Imports surged 16.63 percent to USD 76.06 billion, driven by large inflows of gold, silver, cotton waste, fertilisers and sulphur, widening the trade deficit to a record USD 41.68 billion. 

During April–October, exports edged up 0.63 percent to USD 254.25 billion, while imports rose 6.37 percent to USD 451.08 billion, pushing the merchandise trade deficit to USD 196.82 billion. 

Key segments such as engineering goods, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics recorded broad-based declines in October.

Goyal said the ministry is supporting exporters in diversifying markets, noting that the European Union recently cleared an additional 108 Indian fishery units for shrimp exports and Russia has approved 25 units. 

A Russian delegation is expected to visit on December 5 to advance cooperation in marine products. 

India and the US continue negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, even as high tariffs remain a major headwind for Indian exporters across labour-intensive and value-added sectors.

(KNN Bureau)