Export Promotion Mission may offer WTO-compliant support for small exporters, skip direct subsidies

This scheme was first announced in the FY26 Budget with an outlay of Rs 2,250 crore

The proposed Export Promotion Mission (EPM), first announced in the Budget for 2025-26, is likely to be unveiled in November after Cabinet’s approval, and will consist of WTO-compliant measures thereby avoiding any direct subsidies, Moneycontrol has learnt from two government officials.

The EPM is likely to offer easier access to finance and limited interest subvention with a focus on small exporters, especially through NBFCs, while avoiding traditional or direct subsidy measures, one of the officials said.

This scheme, first announced with an outlay of Rs 2,250 crore, may now come with a higher allocation and run for five more years until 2031, in line with the timeline of the 16th Finance Commission, Moneycontrol had reported earlier.

EPM’s Framework

One of the government officials said, “We have come very far from the days of subsidies on FOBs (price of goods at the point of exports) and other subsidies like MEIS, which was withdrawn, and then RODTEP came that isn’t a subsidy, it is just a remission of taxes and is also WTO compliant.”

The Indian government had discontinued the MEIS or the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, replacing it by the RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) scheme on January 1, 2021. The move was partly due to India crossing the WTO’s per capita income threshold for eligible countries to offer certain types of export subsidies.

The Exports Promotion Mission has two legs - trade finance and market access, said the official, adding that “trade finance is not just interest subsidy; it is access to finance. So, through the EPM framework a small exporter can be given some kind of subvention by bringing it down by another 2 percentage points, and they can go to NBFCs instead of a bank because NBFCs are nimbler. Direct subsidy won’t be given; we have moved away from those things.”

In September 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told Network18 in an exclusive interview that the Centre is looking at a package for exporters to help them tide over the impact of steeper duties imposed by the United States.

Exports Growth Amid Trump Tariffs

India’s total merchandise export grew by 3.6 percent to $36.38 billion in September 2025 from $35.10 billion a month ago, even as shipment to the largest exporter - United States - fell by 21 percent.

Around $48.2 billion worth of India’s goods exports to the US are estimated to be under tariffs of 50 percent. Key exports such as electronics and petroleum products are currently exempt from steeper duties. India had exported goods worth $86.51 billion to the US during FY25.