Export Promotion Infrastructure
Councils, Incentives, and Policy Mechanisms
India has a tiered export promotion architecture. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (through the Department of Commerce) is the apex ministry for trade policy. Under it, approximately 35 Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) — such as FIEO (Federation of Indian Export Organisations), APEDA (agricultural products), GJEPC (gems and jewellery), CHEMEXCIL (chemicals), and others — represent specific sectors and act as the institutional interface between the government and exporters.
During crisis situations, these councils gather granular, sector-specific intelligence on disruption impacts — which ports are affected, which shipments are delayed, which insurance policies have been suspended — that individual exporters and government ministries cannot aggregate independently.
- FIEO is the apex body representing Indian exporters across all sectors
- War-risk insurance surcharges: during Red Sea crisis (2024), war-risk premiums spiked from 0.05% to 0.5-1% of cargo value
- Freight rates on India-Europe routes more than doubled during the 2024 Red Sea disruption; a similar dynamic is now at play
- Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 provides for emergency measures including faster duty drawback, RoDTEP scheme benefits, and export credit support
● Tracked since March 02, 2026 · last seen May 18, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes