The government has extended two key support measures for Indian exporters, retaining the RoDTEP duty-remission framework through December 2026 while extending the risk protection available for shipments exposed to continuing disruptions in the Gulf and West Asia.
The measures address two different cost pressures facing exporters. RoDTEP seeks to prevent domestic taxes and levies embedded in export products from becoming a cost disadvantage in overseas markets, while the RELIEF intervention is aimed at extraordinary freight, insurance and war-related risks affecting shipments through the West Asia maritime corridor.
RoDTEP keeps export cost support unchanged
The Department of Commerce has extended the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) Scheme until December 31, 2026.
The extension covers exports from Domestic Tariff Area units as well as Advance Authorisation holders, Special Economic Zone units and Export Oriented Units.
Importantly for exporters planning shipments over the next three months, the existing RoDTEP rates and value caps under Appendix 4R and Appendix 4RE, as applicable on September 30, 2026, will remain unchanged during the extended period.
RoDTEP is designed to refund duties, taxes and levies incurred on exported products that are not otherwise rebated or refunded. This includes certain central, state and local levies as well as cumulative indirect taxes incurred at prior stages of production and distribution. The scheme is implemented through an electronic system, with eligible exporters receiving the benefit based on notified rates and applicable value caps.
For exporters, retaining the existing rates provides greater cost visibility. It also means that businesses can factor the remission into export pricing and shipment decisions without having to adjust for a change in notified rates during the October-December period.
The bigger pressure is now logistics
While RoDTEP addresses a structural cost issue, exporters shipping through the Gulf and adjoining West Asian maritime routes face a different problem: the cost and risk of physically moving goods.
The government launched RELIEF — Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation — in March 2026 under the Export Promotion Mission after geopolitical disruptions pushed up freight and insurance costs and increased war-related risks.
ECGC’s framework identifies the Gulf and West Asia maritime corridor as a critical route for Indian trade. Its RELIEF documentation says the affected corridor accounted for about $178.56 billion of India’s total trade in FY25, with India-GCC bilateral trade of $56.87 billion.
That makes disruption to the corridor more than a shipping-cost issue. Higher freight and insurance costs can squeeze exporters’ margins, while uncertainty over cargo movement can affect delivery schedules, working capital and the ability to honour overseas orders.
95% war-risk cover becomes important for new shipments
Component II of RELIEF is particularly relevant for exporters considering shipments to specified West Asian destinations.
The component encourages exporters to obtain ECGC cover for upcoming shipments, with enhanced coverage of up to 95% of losses arising from war and associated political risks, subject to the applicable terms and verification.
The facility covers fresh standalone or whole-turnover ECGC policies obtained from March 16, 2026. Eligible cargo includes full-container-load, less-than-container-load and reefer shipments, while energy shipments are excluded.
A critical feature is the protection against a sharp increase in insurance costs. ECGC has been directed to ensure that the premium paid by exporters does not rise beyond the pre-disruption level for the eligible period.
For exporters, this effectively separates the commercial decision to continue serving a market from the extraordinary risk premium created by the geopolitical disruption.
Uptake shows room for the scheme to scale
The extension also comes at a time when the utilisation of RELIEF remains modest relative to the ₹497 crore overall approved outlay.
As of September 27, ECGC’s dashboard showed 1,879 claims filed across the three components of RELIEF. Of these, seven were under Component II. Across all three components, 1,129 claims had been settled and 760 payments had been made, involving ₹22.45 crore.
Component II had an approved allocation of ₹159 crore, but the dashboard showed no payment under the component as of September 27.
The low number of Component II claims could reflect the narrower eligibility conditions and the nature of the cover, rather than a lack of relevance. But it also indicates that awareness, policy uptake and ease of accessing the facility will determine how much of the allocated support actually reaches exporters.
Export resilience now depends on managing both costs and risk
The two extensions together underline the changing nature of India’s export challenge.
RoDTEP deals with the competitiveness equation by ensuring that taxes and levies embedded in products do not remain unrecovered when goods leave the country. RELIEF deals with an external shock — the sudden increase in the cost and risk of transporting those goods through a strategically important trade corridor.
For exporters, particularly those operating on tight margins, the combination matters. A product can remain competitive at the factory gate but lose its price advantage if freight, insurance and conflict-related surcharges rise sharply.
By keeping RoDTEP rates unchanged through December and extending the West Asia risk-support framework, the government is providing exporters with greater visibility on both elements of that equation as geopolitical and logistics uncertainties persist.
The effectiveness of the measures, however, will ultimately depend on actual utilisation, timely claim settlement and whether the support is sufficient to keep Indian exporters’ landed costs competitive in overseas markets.