Cabinet announces EPM and CGSE schemes worth Rs 45,060 cr to boost export sector in India

In November 2024, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi approved two major initiatives with an outlay of Rs 45,060 crores (cr) to strengthen India’s export ecosystem and ease liquidity pressures for exporters.

• The cabinet launched the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE) and the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) to support exporters, particularly MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises).

Export Promotion Mission (EPM)

Objective: EPM is a flagship initiative announced in the Union Budget 2025-26 to strengthen India’s export competitiveness, particularly for MSMEs, first-time exporters and labour-intensive sectors.

Financial Outlay: The scheme has been approved with a total outlay of Rs.25,060 cr for Financial Year 2025-26 to 2030-31.

Implementing Agency: The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Minister of Commerce and Industries (MoCI) will act as the implementing agency and manage all processes through a dedicated digital platform integrated with existing trade systems.

Collaboration: EPM involves the Department of Commerce (DoC), MoCI, Ministry of MSME, Ministry of Finance (MoF), and other key stakeholders including Financial Institutions, Export Promotion Councils (EPC), Commodity Boards, industry associations, and state governments (SG).

Sub-Schemes: The EPM consolidates key export support schemes such as Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) and Market Access Initiative (MAI). The mission will now operate through two integrated sub-schemes:

• Niryat Protsahan: This focuses on improving 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.
• The financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 10,401 cr.
• Niryat Disha: This focuses on non-financial support such as compliance and certification assistance, international branding, packaging support, trade fairs, warehousing, logistics incentives, inland transport reimbursement, trade intelligence, and capacity-building.
• The total budget allocated for this scheme is Rs. 14,659 cr.

Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE)

Objective: The scheme aims to provide 100% credit guarantee coverage by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) for extending additional credit facilities up to Rs 20,000 cr.

Implementation: The scheme will be valid till March 31,2026, and shall be implemented by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) through NCGTC.

• The Management committee will be formed under the chairmanship of Secretary DFS as of November 2025 Shri M. Nagaraju will oversee the implementation.

Major Impact: This will strengthen the liquidity, ensure smooth business operations and reinforce India’s progress towards achieving the USD 1 trillion (tn) export target.

Background: Exports are a critical pillar of the Indian economy, accounting for nearly 21% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in Financial Year 2024-25 (FY25) and contributing to foreign exchange reserves.

• Export-oriented  industries directly and indirectly employ over 45 million (mn) people and MSMEs contribute nearly 45%  of total exports.

About Ministry of Commerce and Industries
Union Minister – Piyush Goyal (Rajya Sabha, Maharashtra)
Minister of State (MoS) – Jitin Prasada (Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, UP)