The Indian government has launched a market access support (MAS) scheme worth INR4,531 crore to help exporters participate in international fairs, exhibitions and buyer-seller meetings. Announced on Wednesday by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the initiative is the first component to be operationalised under a broader INR25,060 crore export promotion mission aimed at improving exporters’ competitiveness.
India market access support for exporters
The MAS allocation covers the period 2025–31. For the 2025–26 financial year, INR500 crore has been set aside, reflecting the fact that only three months remain in the fiscal year. Of that sum, INR330 crore will be used to clear dues under the previous Market Access Initiative, which functioned as a standalone scheme until the last financial year.
Under MAS, financial and institutional support will be provided for a range of market development activities. These include Buyer-Seller Meets (BSMs), participation in international trade fairs and exhibitions, Mega Reverse Buyer-Seller Meets (RBSMs) organised in India, and trade delegations. Assistance is standardised by event type: up to INR5 crore for BSMs, INR10 crore for RBSMs held in India and INR5 crore for trade delegations.
The central government will meet up to 60 per cent of event costs, with the remaining 40 per cent expected from the private sector. For designated priority areas, government support may rise to 80 per cent. To ensure smaller exporters benefit, 35 per cent of support for BSMs and trade delegations has been reserved for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Details of eligible sectors and new measures
Priority sectors identified under MAS include agriculture and allied industries, handicrafts and handlooms, leather, sports goods, telecom, defence, tourism, medical and logistics services, legal and audio visual services, communications, construction and environment-related services. A new component to fund proofs-of-concept and product demonstrations for potential overseas buyers will be introduced shortly. This is intended to support technology-intensive, emerging and sunrise sectors, following requests from the ministries of telecom, IT and electronics.
Officials have also said mandatory online feedback mechanisms will be introduced for exporters participating in supported events. The feedback will cover buyer quality, business leads generated and market relevance. The DGFT indicated that MAS guidelines will be refined based on implementation learnings. A three-to-five-year calendar of major market access events will be prepared and approved in advance to help exporters and organisers plan participation well ahead.
The MAS is part of a two-pronged export mission approved by the cabinet in November. The mission comprises Niryat Protsahan, with an outlay of INR10,401 crore, and Niryat Disha, with INR14,659 crore. Niryat Protsahan focuses on reducing the cost of credit and includes measures such as interest subvention for micro and small exporters, collateral guarantees, export factoring support and credit enhancement. The interest subvention component alone is expected to cost about INR5,000 crore.
The government said the package comes at a critical time for exporters, citing pressures such as an effective 50 per cent tariff faced in the US market. Recent statistics show India’s exports rose 19.37 per cent to USD38.13 billion in November, driven by engineering and electronics shipments, which helped narrow the trade deficit to USD24.53 billion.
Officials expect MAS to support sustained market development, increase leads for Indian firms overseas and enhance participation by smaller exporters. The phased rollout of the remaining components of the export promotion mission is expected by the end of January.
Key Takeaways:
- India market access support for exporters allocates INR4,531 crore over 2025–31 to boost participation in international fairs and buyer-seller meets.
- The scheme covers 60% of event costs, rising to 80% for priority sectors, with 35% allocation for MSMEs in select activities.
- New proof-of-concept and product demonstration support will target technology-intensive and emerging sectors.
- The MAS forms part of a wider INR25,060 crore export promotion mission that includes credit cost reductions and interest subvention.
