New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) The government on Thursday launched the RELIEF (Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation) scheme with an outlay of Rs 497 crore to provide relief to India's exporters facing disruptions due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Addressing a press conference, Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Rajesh Agarwal said, "We are announcing a new scheme under the Export Promotion mission, especially focused upon exporters exposed to these 17-18 geographies which have been impacted by the conflict to assuage some of the challenges that our exporters are facing." He also informed that an inter-ministerial group (IMG) has been set up comprising various government departments, including the commerce ministry, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ports and Shipping, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of External Affairs, the RBI, CBIC, etc, which meets daily to assess the evolving situation based on cargo movement.

The package under the RELIEF scheme, with ECGC (Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India) as the implementing agency, includes automatic extension of export obligations, logistical support, and potential financial measures to manage shipping delays.

The RELIEF scheme mainly includes consignments destined for delivery or trans-shipment to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, and Yemen.

The scheme has three key components. Component I includes Export Obligation Extensions: Automatic extension for Advance Authorisations and EPCG authorisations (due between March 1 and May 31, 2026) until August 31, 2026, without penalty. It protects already insured shipments by ECGC in the immediate one-month window from February 14-March 15.

Component II is aimed at encouraging and facilitating ECGC coverage for upcoming exports consignments over three months from March 16 to June 15.

The Component III specifically targets MSMEs to shield them from surcharge shocks and partly reimburses extraordinary freight and insurance costs over one month period from February 14 to March 15. It is applicable for MSME exporters who have not taken ECGC coverage. PTI RSN TRB