New Delhi: As India reels under the pressure of the high tariffs imposed on the Indian products enetring the United States, the Modi government on Wednesday approved the Export Promotion Mission to strengthen India’s export ecosystem with an outlay of Rs 25,060 crore.

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision comes at a time when the tariffs levied by the Donald Trump administration resulted in a decline of 12 per cent of the shipments to the US in September. Engineering goods exports from India to the US have suffered a lot. Washington imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods from August 27, 2205. Imprtantly, at present the tariffs on India are the highest globally.

India’s Export Promotion Mission

The Export Promotion Mission (EPM) was given the green signal with an aim to strengthen India’s export competitiveness, particularly for MSMEs, first-time exporters, and labour-intensive sectors.

“The Mission will provide a comprehensive, flexible, and digitally driven framework for export promotion, with a total outlay of Rs.25,060 crore for FY 2025–26 to FY 2030–31. EPM marks a strategic shift from multiple fragmented schemes to a single, outcome-based, and adaptive mechanism that can respond swiftly to global trade challenges and evolving exporter needs,” the Cabinet note mentioned.

The Mission’s objective is to directly address structural challenges that are adversely impacting the Indian exports. The issues which will be tackled, “include limited and expensive trade finance access, the 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 Export Promotion Mission will operate through two integrated sub-schemes:

NIRYAT PROTSAHAN

This will ensure improving access to affordable trade finance for MSMEs by taking steps for interest subvention, export factoring, collateral guarantees, credit cards for e-commerce exporters, and credit enhancement support for diversification into new markets.

NIRYAT DISHA

Focuses 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.

EPM consolidates key export support schemes such as the Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) and Market Access Initiative (MAI), aligning them with contemporary trade needs.

The EPM’s priority would be to provide help to sectors like textiles, leather, gems & jewellery, engineering goods, and marine products as these have been hit hard by the US tariffs.