Time-limited Support for Exporters in view of Geopolitical Disruptions in the Gulf and West Asia Maritime Corridor

Government of India Ministry of Commerce & Industry Department of Commerce Directorate General of Foreign Trade Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi

Notification No. 65/2025-26 Dated: 19 March 2026

Subject: Time-limited Support for Exporters in view of Geopolitical Disruptions in the Gulf and West Asia Maritime Corridor – reg.

S.O. (E) – In exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 and section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, read with paragraphs 1.02 and 2.01 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, as amended from time to time, the Central Government hereby notifies a time limited Support for Indian Exporters, Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF), under the Export Promotion Mission(EPM).

Details of the said intervention are submitted at Annexure enclosed.

Effect of the Notification: A time-limited RELIEF intervention under the Export Promotion Mission, to be implemented through the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC), is operationalised to address elevated export risks arising from geopolitical disruptions in the Gulf and West Asia maritime corridor.

(Lav Agarwal) Director General of Foreign Trade & Ex-officio Addl. Secretary to the Government of India Email: dgft@nic.in

(Issued from F. No. 01/02/62/AM-26/EPM)

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Annexure

1. The Gulf and West Asia region constitutes a strategically significant trade corridor for India. Recent geopolitical developments in West Asia, particularly the escalation of tensions involving Iran and the evolving security environment around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf maritime corridor, have led to disruptions in maritime logistics arrangements. Shipping lines and insurers have imposed a number of additional charges on cargo moving through the region, including Additional War Risk Premiums (AWRP), War Risk Surcharges (WRS), Emergency Conflict Surcharges (ECS) and other extraordinary freight levies.

2. These developments have resulted in a sudden escalation in outbound logistics costs for exporters, driven by vessel diversions, longer maritime routes, higher insurance premia, and congestion at regional transshipment hubs.

3. Given the strategic importance of the Gulf and West Asia region for India's merchandise exports, prolonged logistics disruptions and extraordinary freight surcharges, a calibrated, time-limited, targeted and exceptional intervention under the Export Promotion Mission (EPM), called RELIEF - Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation, has been approved to support Indian exporters.

4. The approved intervention - RELIEF - shall consist of three complementary components aimed at addressing the principal stress points faced by the exporters, namely: -

(i) enhanced war/political risk support for eligible ECGC's already insured exporters;

(ii) time-limited support to encourage and facilitate ECGC coverage for eligible exporters for upcoming exports; and,

(iii) time-limited reimbursement support for extraordinary freight and insurance surcharge burden borne by eligible non-ECGC-insured MSME exporters in respect of customs-cleared cargo.

5. Given the experience of ECGC in handling export credit risks and claims administration, ECGC shall act as the nodal and implementing agency for the three interventions under RELIEF, including disbursement and verification, in accordance with Government-approved guidelines.

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RELIEF Component-I: Export Credit Support for ECGC's already insured exporters

6. This component shall apply to exporters who have already obtained ECGC credit insurance cover and whose consignments are destined, either for delivery or for transshipment, to the specified countries in the affected Gulf and West Asia region and in respect of which onboard bill of lading as well as in case of air shipments where airway bill has been issued during the eligible period.

6.1. ECGC shall ensure that the premium amount for the already ECGC-covered exporters is not increased beyond the pre-disruption level for the eligible period.

6.2. The assistance under this component shall be:

• Applicable for shipments in respect of which onboard bill of lading or airway bill has been issued between February 14, 2026 – March 15, 2026;
• Provided for shipments - Full Container Load (FCL), Less than Container Load (LCL) or Reefer containers (perishable cargo) - destined for countries such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran and Yemen for delivery or for transshipment.
• To cover losses arising due to war-related risks and associated political risks in the affected countries;
• To enable ECGC to provide enhanced cover of up to 100% of loss, subject to approved terms and verification.
• To reimburse ECGC for the amount that it shall pay to the exporters for such compensation in excess of the amount that is payable under their existing ECGC policy cover.

6.3. The assistance under this component shall not be applicable for back-to-town cargo cases. Such cases shall continue to be covered as per their existing ECGC policy cover. No reimbursement shall be made to ECGC for such cases under this component.

6.4. Government support under this Component-I is estimated at ₹56 crores, for the limited intervention window under the RELIEF proposal, to enable ECGC to extend compensation up to 100% of loss, over and above the coverage ordinarily admissible under the relevant policy.

RELIEF Component-II: Encourage and facilitate ECGC coverage for Export Credit Support for upcoming exports in the region

7. This Component is meant to encourage exporters to opt for ECGC's credit insurance cover under standalone policies for coverage of their consignments, destined, either for delivery or for transshipment, to the specified countries in the affected Gulf and West Asia region. The back-to-town cargo cases will not be eligible under the component.

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7.1. ECGC shall ensure that the premium paid by the exporters shall not be increased beyond the pre-disruption level for the eligible period.

7.2. Assistance under this component shall be:

• Applicable for shipments in respect of which onboard bill of lading and airway bill is granted between March 16, 2026 – June 15, 2026 excluding energy shipments to the region;
• Provided for shipments - Full Container Load (FCL), Less than Container Load (LCL) or Reefer containers (perishable cargo) - destined for countries such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Israel, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran and Yemen for delivery or for transshipment.
• To cover losses arising due to war-related risks and associated political risks in the affected countries;
• To enable ECGC to provide enhanced cover up to 95% of loss, subject to approved terms and verification.
• To reimburse ECGC for the amount that it shall pay to the exporters for such compensation in excess of the amount that is payable under the ECGC policy cover.

7.3. The assistance under this component shall not be applicable for back-to-town cargo cases. Such cases shall continue to be covered as per their existing ECGC policy cover. No reimbursement shall be made to ECGC for such cases under this component.

7.4. Government support under this Component-II is estimated at ₹159 crores, for the limited intervention window under the RELIEF proposal, to enable ECGC to extend compensation up to 95% of loss, over and above the coverage ordinarily admissible under the relevant policy.

RELIEF Component-III: Reimbursement support for extraordinary freight and insurance surcharge borne by eligible non-ECGC-insured MSME exporters

8. Recognising that some MSME exporters may not have availed for coverage under ECGC's Credit Insurance Policy, this component shall partially offset losses due to extraordinary logistics costs arising from conflict-related surcharges imposed on Indian exports which are already sailing to the specified countries in the affected Gulf and West Asia regions, either for delivery or for transshipment, for which Onboard Bill of Lading has already been issued for movement to such affected regions.

8.1. Eligible expenditure shall be limited to additional freight or insurance costs borne by the exporter or reduction in realised export proceeds attributable to such extraordinary surcharges, on account of increased freight or insurance costs. This would include:

• War Risk Surcharge (WRS)/Emergency Conflict Surcharge (ECS) or similar levies;
• Additional War Risk Premium (AWRP);
• Additional conflict-related shipping charges linked to maritime route disruptions; and,

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• Additional insurance premiums applicable to cargo shipments.

8.2. Assistance under this component shall be:

• Applicable for shipments in respect of which Onboard Bill of Lading has been granted between February 14, 2026 – March 15, 2026;
• Restricted to Micro, Small and Medium enterprises, as defined under the MSME classification framework;
• Provided for shipments - Full Container Load (FCL), Less than Container Load (LCL) or Reefer containers (perishable cargo) - destined for countries such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Israel, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran and Yemen for delivery or for transshipment.
• For CIF contracts, reimbursement of upto 50% of the additional freight and insurance burden actually borne by the exporter, subject to production of prescribed documentary evidence, shall be provided;
• For FOB contracts, reimbursement of upto 50% of the reduction between the contracted FOB value and the realised export proceeds shall be provided. The same shall, however, be done only where such reduction is demonstrably and solely attributable to extraordinary freight or insurance surcharge linked to the present disruption, as evidenced by such documents as may be prescribed, including contractual amendment, debit note, buyer communication, bank realisation record, or equivalent proof.
• The back-to-town cargo cases will not be eligible under the component.

8.3 The total assistance per IEC shall be subject to:

• the extent of actual loss incurred by the exporter in respect of the eligible invoice,
• submission of prescribed documents, and,
• an overall ceiling of ₹50 lakh per exporter in respect of all eligible consignments under this component.

8.4. The estimated Government support requirement under this Component-III is ₹282 Crores for the time-limited intervention window under the RELIEF proposal.

9. The total expenditure for the RELIEF intervention to an extent of Rs.497 Crore shall be met from the existing budgetary allocation under the Export Promotion Mission, and, shall be made on actuals subject to budget availability, verification, and such operational safeguards as may be prescribed.

10. The EPM Steering Committee may review the interventions under RELIEF proposal based on evolving geopolitical conditions and recommend modification, extension or withdrawal of the component as appropriate, including inter se transfer of funds among the components as well as prescription of negative list of goods for exclusion from any of the

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components of the RELIEF intervention.

11. The claims shall be processed in order of receipt, subject to eligibility, verification, and availability of funds within the approved financial ceiling, and the total Government liability under this intervention shall not exceed the budgetary allocation approved under the Export Promotion Mission. ECGC shall maintain a real-time monitoring dashboard of claims processed and balance funds available under the intervention.

12. The intervention under Export Promotion Mission will support continuity of India's exports to Gulf and West Asia markets during the disruption period, reduce the financial burden of extraordinary freight and insurance costs on exporters, prevent export order cancellations and supply chain disruptions and protect employment and value chains in export sectors.

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