Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday outlined five major steps taken by the government to empower exporters and foster export-led growth.
Addressing Exim Bank’s Trade Conclave on the theme ‘Building Export-led Growth for Viksit Bharat’, she said firstly, there has been significant investments in transport and logistics, which is improving supply chain efficiency and global competitiveness.
Secondly, MSMEs are being supported through key initiatives such as revision in definition of MSMEs, Udyam registration, revamp of Credit Guarantee Schemes, TReDS, and Exim Bank’s Ubharte Sitaare Programme.
Thirdly, there is a focus on enhancing access to trade finance through platforms like ITFS and Exim Bank’s subsidiary in GIFT City, Exim Finserve, which is offering export factoring.
Fourthly, cluster development for trade is being pursued under the Districts as Export Hubs initiative, enabling exporters to operate beyond SEZs and directly from their local districts.
Finally, India is actively negotiating FTAs with several geographies, with the agreement with the USA also close to finalisation
Under the Ubharte Sitaare Programme, Exim Bank has extended financial support of ₹ 1,522 crore, including 7 equity investments, to 85 entities identified as future champions. Additionally, technical assistance has been extended to incubators of IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad, IISc, Bangalore, IIM Lucknow and IIT Kanpur under the programme, for scaling up and nurturing early-stage companies.
During FY 2025, Exim Finserve provided export factoring for 587 open account trade transactions of exporters.
The Finance Minister also highlighted the role of the Production-linked incentive scheme, with exports catalysed through the scheme exceeding ₹5.3 lakh crore.
She also highlighted the key milestones achieved under Exim Bank’s Trade Assistance Programme (TAP) during the Conclave.
During the conclave, the Finance Minister also presented sanction letters to select SMEs being supported under the Ubharte Sitaare Programme. Exim Bank also exchanged a technical assistance agreement with IIT Kanpur for supporting high-potential startups.
During the event, she further virtually inaugurated Exim Bank’s new offices in Lucknow, Indore and São Paulo, Brazil, in the presence of Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance and M. Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
At the event, MoS (Finance) Chaudhary also released Exim Bank’s research publications titled ‘India’s Need to Secure Critical Minerals for Energy Transition’, ‘India’s Defence Equipment Industry: Exploring New Frontiers’ and ‘Textile & Allied Products Trade under ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement: Value Chain Analysis’.