For a small exporter of machined or fabricated parts, the cost of export credit, collateral demands and certification fees often decide whether an overseas order is worth taking. The Export Promotion Mission (EPM) is the Government of India's umbrella programme meant to ease these costs for MSME exporters. Several of its parts are already operational, so it is worth understanding what you can claim and how.

This is a general guide, not tax, legal or financial advice. Rates and caps can be revised, so confirm current terms with your bank and on the DGFT portal before you rely on them.

What the Export Promotion Mission is

According to the PIB backgrounder of 24 February 2026, the EPM was approved in November 2025 with a total outlay of ₹25,060 crore for FY 2025-26 to FY 2030-31. The January 2026 launch release says it is implemented jointly by the Department of Commerce, the Ministry of MSME and the Ministry of Finance.

The mission has two sub-schemes:

  • Niryat Protsahan: financial support such as interest subvention, credit guarantees and support for export factoring.
  • Niryat Disha: non-financial support such as certification costs, inland freight, trade intelligence, overseas warehousing and trade fairs.

Interest subvention on export credit

This is the part most component makers will use first. The scheme gives a base interest subvention of 2.75% on pre- and post-shipment rupee export credit from eligible lenders. Key points from the PIB releases:

  • It applies only to products on a notified positive list at HS six-digit level, said to cover about 75% of India's tariff lines.
  • There is an annual cap of ₹50 lakh per IEC (the February backgrounder phrases it as per exporter).
  • Rates are to be reviewed twice a year, in March and September, so check the current rate.
  • The RBI issued operational guidelines in January 2026, directing banks and financial institutions to pass the benefit only to eligible exporters.

Illustrative numbers: if your packing credit for an export order averages ₹40 lakh over a year, a 2.75% subvention would be worth about ₹1.1 lakh in reduced interest cost. For a small shop working on thin margins, that can cover a good part of the freight on one consignment.

Collateral-free credit and export factoring

Many MSMEs cannot get enough export credit because they have no extra property to pledge. Under the collateral support intervention, run with CGTMSE, export credit gets a guarantee of up to 85% for micro and small exporters and up to 65% for medium exporters, with a maximum guaranteed exposure of ₹10 crore per exporter in a year.

For those who prefer to sell their export receivables, the export factoring support gives 2.75% interest subvention on the factoring cost through registered factoring firms, capped at ₹50 lakh per IEC. Both recourse and non-recourse factoring are covered.

Certification, freight and trade fair support

Under Niryat Disha, the interventions most relevant to engineering exporters are:

  • TRACE: reimbursement of certification and compliance costs, such as CE marking or ISO, at 60% of actual cost (75% for a priority list), up to ₹25 lakh per exporter per year. A valid IEC and Udyam Registration are needed.
  • LIFT: up to 30% of inland freight cost to ports, ICDs and CFSs, capped at ₹20 lakh per exporter per year, but only for notified products from notified districts.
  • Market Access Support: support for buyer-seller meets, trade fairs and delegations, including airfare support for MSMEs.

How to apply

The process is mostly online:

  • For interest subvention and collateral support, file an Intent-to-Claim on the DGFT portal before availing the support. You receive a Unique Identification Number (UIN), which you share with your bank or factoring firm. The lender then submits the claim.
  • For TRACE and LIFT, file the Intent-to-Claim on trade.gov.in before you use the service, then submit a reimbursement claim after export with documents and a self-certification.
The common mistake is claiming after the fact. Register your intent first, then take the credit or book the certification.

A practical checklist before your next export order: keep your IEC and Udyam Registration current, check that your product's HS code is on the positive list, ask your bank whether its export credit is already linked to the EPM, and plan certification spend through TRACE rather than paying the full cost first.

How SpecReview helps

The EPM lowers the cost of credit, but the order still has to be documented correctly. From a customer PO, SpecReview builds the export documents you need, including the commercial invoice, proforma invoice, packing list and certificate of conformance, so your paperwork is consistent with what your bank and buyer will check.