RoDTEP Extended to December 2026 and ECGC Export Cover Raised to 95%: How India Is Shielding Exporters from the West Asia Crisis
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry extended the RoDTEP scheme (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) until 31 December 2026. RoDTEP gives exporters back the hidden taxes they paid while making their goods.
The existing RoDTEP rates and value caps stay the same during the extension. They are the rates notified in Appendix 4R and Appendix 4RE of the Foreign Trade Policy as of 30 September 2026.
RoDTEP stays open to exports from the Domestic Tariff Area, Advance Authorisation holders, Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units and Export Oriented Units (EOUs).
The government also extended the timelines of Component II of RELIEF (Resilience and Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation), through a Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification dated 30 September 2026. Under it, exporters who take an ECGC insurance policy get 95% risk cover on eligible shipments to the specified West Asia and Gulf regions.
Under RELIEF Component II, eligible exporters will not pay insurance premiums above pre-disruption levels. It covers full container, part container and reefer (refrigerated) container shipments, but not energy shipments.
Both steps aim to protect exporters from higher freight costs, costlier insurance and war-related payment risks caused by the disruption of shipping routes in West Asia.
RoDTEP Scheme: Design, Objectives, and WTO Compliance
RoDTEP is a scheme that returns to exporters the taxes and duties hidden inside the cost of their products, which no other scheme refunds. Examples are the tax on diesel used in a factory, electricity duty and mandi tax. The idea is that a country should export its goods, not its taxes. Because RoDTEP only refunds taxes actually paid, it is designed to follow World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
The extension keeps this tax refund flowing to exporters at a time when shipping costs have jumped because of the West Asia crisis. Keeping the rates and caps unchanged gives exporters certainty for pricing their orders until the end of 2026.
Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC): India's Export Credit Insurer
The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation, now called ECGC Ltd., is a government-owned company that protects Indian exporters if a foreign buyer does not pay. It sells a special kind of insurance called export credit insurance. If the buyer goes bankrupt, delays payment for too long, or cannot pay because of war or government action in his country, ECGC pays the exporter most of the lost money. It also protects banks that give loans to exporters.
RELIEF Component II works through ECGC policies. Exporters shipping to the disrupted West Asia and Gulf regions get 95% cover without paying premiums above pre-crisis levels, so the fear of non-payment does not stop them from shipping.
WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement)
The SCM Agreement is the WTO rulebook that decides which kinds of government money support to companies are allowed in world trade. Subsidies that depend on exporting (export subsidies) are prohibited for most countries, because they unfairly push down prices in foreign markets. A country hurt by such subsidies can complain at the WTO or put an extra import tax, called a countervailing duty, on the subsidised goods.
Both steps in today's news are shaped by these rules. RoDTEP refunds only taxes actually paid, and ECGC must keep its normal premiums high enough to cover its long-term costs, so India can support exporters without breaking WTO law.
- RoDTEP extended till: 31 December 2026; rates and value caps unchanged (Appendix 4R and 4RE as of 30 September 2026)
- RoDTEP open to: Domestic Tariff Area, Advance Authorisation holders, SEZ units and EOUs
- RELIEF (Resilience and Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation): launched 19 March 2026 under the Export Promotion Mission; run through ECGC
- RELIEF Component II: 95% risk cover; policies taken on or after 16 March 2026; premiums capped at pre-disruption levels; energy shipments excluded
- RELIEF Component I: up to 100% cover for shipments between 14 February and 15 March 2026
- RELIEF Component III: up to 50% of extra freight and insurance cost reimbursed to MSMEs without ECGC cover, capped at ₹50 lakh per exporter
- Timeline extension notified by DGFT on 30 September 2026
- Export Promotion Mission: ₹25,060 crore for 2025-26 to 2030-31; sub-schemes Niryat Protsahan and Niryat Disha
- ECGC: set up 1957; head office Mumbai; under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry