EPCs Urged to Focus on New Markets, New Products and Higher Export Growth

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal chaired an interaction with Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) and Industry Associations in New Delhi on 24th June 2026 to review progress under the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) and discuss strategies for accelerating India's export growth.

The meeting built upon the consensus reached during an earlier interaction with EPCs that the focus must extend beyond addressing individual organisational concerns to developing a structured and coordinated action plan for expanding exports, accessing new markets, promoting new products and enhancing the contribution of each Council to the country's overall export performance.

To enhance predictability and expedite trade facilitation, the Minister informed participants that a tentative schedule of statutory and facilitation committee meetings has been finalised and placed on the DGFT website. The Norms Committee, Policy Relaxation Committee, EPCG Committee and Exim Facilitation Committees will now meet on a fortnightly basis on fixed days, while the Inter-Ministerial Working Group on SCOMET will meet every month. The initiative aims to ensure time-bound disposal of cases, reduce pendency, expedite issuance of meeting minutes and provide a more predictable and credible facilitation environment for exporters.

Shri Goyal urged all EPCs and industry associations to remain actively engaged with DGFT and to submit focused, quantifiable and outcome-oriented proposals. He emphasised that EPCs, as India's interface with global markets, must work in close partnership with the Government and fully leverage the market access opportunities emerging from India's trade agreements to achieve the shared objective of substantially increasing the country's exports.

During the discussion, Commerce Secretary Shri Rajesh Agarwal emphasised that the success of the Export Promotion Mission would depend not only on launching interventions but also on ensuring their effective uptake by exporters. Referring to initiatives such as export factoring, credit guarantees for e-commerce exporters, collateral support for export credit and support for emerging export opportunities, he called upon EPCs and industry associations to undertake focused outreach programmes in partnership with banks and other stakeholders. He stressed that the objective should be to translate available budgetary support into measurable outcomes and higher export growth.

The Commerce Secretary also encouraged EPCs to proactively develop proposals under various EPM components, particularly in the areas of export warehousing and logistics, certification support, trade intelligence and market access. He highlighted the need to identify new markets, leverage the opportunities created through India's Free Trade Agreements and promote wider participation in key international trade events, especially in regions offering significant export potential.

The Commerce Secretary underlined the importance of active participation by EPCs in the District Export Hubs initiative and urged them to nominate focal points at the national, State and district levels. He encouraged EPCs to work closely with District Export Promotion Committees to identify products and districts with immediate export potential. Citing examples such as GI products, agricultural produce and local crafts, he stressed the need to convert district-level strengths into export opportunities and bring new exporters into the ecosystem through sustained handholding, capacity building and market linkages.

Setting the context, the Director General of Foreign Trade welcomed the participating EPCs as partners in the nation's export promotion journey. DGFT emphasised a mission-mode and partnership-driven approach to the Export Promotion Mission (EPM), urging every Council to take full advantage of each component of the Mission, with a focus on facilitation as well as measurable outcomes, last-mile reach and benefit to exporters. DGFT also highlighted the importance of district-level export promotion, e-commerce exports, and tapping the potential of the country's youth as new-age exporters.

Presenting the status of Export Promotion Mission interventions, Additional Director General of Foreign Trade Shri Lokesh H.D. informed that ten interventions have already been rolled out, while the branding component is under wider stakeholder consultation. Based on industry feedback, several refinements have been incorporated into the operationalised interventions, including the extension of interest subvention benefits to small and micro exporters on identified tariff lines. He further informed that a National Workshop involving industry stakeholders and implementing agencies was organised on 2 June 2026 to identify and address operational issues and facilitate greater utilisation of the schemes by exporters.

Reviewing the progress of the District Export Hubs (DEH) initiative, Additional Director General of Foreign Trade Shri Abhinav Gupta presented the status of the 90-day activation drive launched on 1 June 2026. Building on the institutional framework established under the Districts as Export Hubs initiative, with District Export Promotion Committees (DEPCs) and District Export Action Plans (DEAPs) now operational across districts, a detailed activity calendar has been prepared identifying the responsibilities of central and State government agencies and other stakeholders during the activation period.

***

Abhijith Narayanan/ Ishita Biswas