Export Promotion Mission (EPM)

The government just merged a dozen scattered export schemes into one. It comes with a ₹25,060 crore price tag.

What Is the Export Promotion Mission, and What Does It Cost?

One new mission now replaces a whole cluster of older export schemes.

• The Export Promotion Mission (EPM) is a Cabinet-approved scheme. Its outlay is ₹25,060 crore, for FY2025-26 to FY2030-31.
• EPM was first announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, in February 2025.
• The Union Cabinet formally approved it later, on 12 November 2025.
• EPM merges many older, separate export-support schemes. It replaces them with one framework, run online, with clear targets.
• The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is EPM’s implementing agency.

Which Two Sub-Schemes Does EPM Run Through?

EPM does not work as one single scheme. It splits its support into two clear arms.

• EPM runs through two sub-schemes: Niryat Protsahan and Niryat Disha.
• Niryat Protsahan is the financial-support arm.
• Niryat Disha is the non-financial, enabling-support arm.
• EPM mainly targets small businesses, new exporters, and sectors that employ many workers.

What Does Niryat Protsahan Cover?

This arm of EPM is all about the cost and risk of financing an export order.

• Niryat Protsahan covers interest subvention, so loans for exporters cost less.
• It also covers export factoring. And it covers collateral guarantees. Both make it easier for exporters to get a loan.
• It offers credit cards built for e-commerce exporters.
• It provides credit enhancement, to help exporters diversify into new markets.

What Does Niryat Disha Cover?

This arm builds the systems an exporter needs, outside of pure finance.

• Niryat Disha covers quality and compliance help. It also covers branding, packaging support, and trade-fair visits.
• It also covers warehousing and logistics support.
• Compliance-cost reimbursement runs under a component called TRACE. Logistics and warehousing support run under FLOW and LIFT.
• EPM also funds District Export Hubs. These push organised export promotion down to the district level, for the first time.
• Many bodies help run EPM. These include the Department of Commerce, the Ministry of MSME, the Ministry of Finance, and Export Promotion Councils, along with DGFT.

Which Sectors and Districts Does EPM Prioritise?

EPM does not spread its support evenly. It targets the exporters facing the most pressure.

• EPM gives priority to sectors hit hardest by recent global tariff hikes.
• These priority sectors are textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and marine products.
• EPM can still support other new export sectors too, beyond this list.
• It also targets exports from new districts. These are areas that have not been big export hubs before.

Is Niryat Bandhu the Same as Niryat Protsahan or Niryat Disha?

One name-mix-up shows up often, in questions about this topic.

• A CDS I 2018 question tested the Niryat Bandhu Scheme. It guides new business owners, whose families never exported before. It helps them start and grow an export business.
• Niryat Bandhu is a genuinely older, separate scheme. It is not the same as EPM’s own Niryat Protsahan or Niryat Disha, both launched under EPM in 2025-26.
• All three names share the word “Niryat” — Hindi for export. That shared word makes them easy to confuse in an exam question.
• Niryat Bandhu mentors first-time exporters. Niryat Protsahan is EPM’s financial arm. Niryat Disha is EPM’s non-financial arm.

What Has Happened Under EPM Since Launch?

EPM moved from approval to a fast rollout, within just a few months.

• On 21 February 2026, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal launched 7 more measures under EPM. This took 10 of its 11 proposed interventions live.
• All EPM processes, from application to disbursal, run through one dedicated digital platform.
• One part still lags: branding support. As of a June 2026 review, it was still being discussed with stakeholders, unlike EPM’s other parts.
• On 1 June 2026, EPM’s District Export Hubs initiative began a 90-day activation drive.
• On 24 June 2026, Goyal reviewed EPM’s progress with Export Promotion Councils and industry associations, in New Delhi. Additional DGFT Abhinav Gupta confirmed the hubs’ 90-day drive. He asked Councils to send in clear, results-focused plans.
• [Policy] On 30 September 2026, DGFT extended the RoDTEP scheme to 31 December 2026, with rates unchanged at 0.3% to 3.9%. RoDTEP refunds hidden taxes on exports. It is a separate scheme from EPM. It replaced MEIS in 2021. (Source: Akashvani News)

EPM is a support scheme inside India. It is not the same as India’s trade agreements with other countries. For that side of India’s export push, see India’s Free Trade Agreements.