The government on Thursday (March 19, 2026) launched the ₹497 crore Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) scheme to provide credit insurance cover for exporters whose goods are stranded due to the West Asia crisis, or who are planning to export to the Gulf over the next few months. The insurance premia under this scheme would be at pre-conflict rates and the focus would be MSME beneficiaries.
While announcing the scheme, the officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry acknowledged the hardship being faced by Indian exporters due to the constraints created by the war in West Asia, and said that the RELIEF scheme was aimed at alleviating this and providing them with surety about their exports.
“Our exporters who have been exporting to the Middle East are facing certain challenges,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said at a press briefing. “There have been instances where exports that were meant for some of the countries in the region have not been able to reach their destination. There is a sense of worry among the exporters, especially those who have got exposure to the Middle East countries. Their future exports are also getting impacted.”
In a separate inter-ministerial briefing, Special Secretary at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Rajesh Kumar Sinha said that there are two container ships currently in the Eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz, headed from India to Oman and the UAE.
“Both are container vessels [operating in the Eastern part], the first is CMA CGM Vitoria which is at the Sohar port in Oman which has 24 Indian seafarers on board,” Mr. Sinha said. “The second is SSL Godavari, which is on its way to Khor Fakkan Port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and has 23 Indian seafarers on board.”
In order to help exporters affected by stuck shipments, the government announced the RELIEF scheme, which would be a part of the Export Promotion Mission that was announced in Budget 2025 and that was implemented over the course of 2025-26.
Contours of the scheme
The RELIEF scheme is to be in three parts, the Director General of Foreign Trade Lav Agarwal explained in the briefing.
The first component, comprising ₹56 crore, is aimed at exporters who already have credit insurance cover from ECGC Ltd. (formerly Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India), which is wholly owned by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Under this scheme, such exporters would be able to avail of insurance premiums at pre-disruption rates, and the cover would extend to consignments where the Onboard Bill of Lading or airway bill is issued during February 14 to March 15, 2026. It would also only apply to consignments bound for UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel and Yemen.
“ECGC covers loss due to war-related risks and associated political risks in the affected countries,” Mr. Agarwal said. “It also provides enhanced cover up to 100% of loss, subject to some conditions and verification.”
The Government would reimburse ECGC for compensation paid in excess of the amount payable under the existing ECGC policy cover.
Future exports also covered
The second component of the scheme, comprising ₹159 crore, is aimed at those exporters who have not yet opted for ECGC cover and are looking to export to the affected countries over the next three months. The cover would extend to those consignments for which the Onboard Bill of Lading or airway bill has been granted between March 16 and June 15, 2026. Energy shipments are, however, excluded from this.
“The purpose is to encourage exporters to opt for ECGC credit insurance cover for consignments to the specified countries,” Mr. Agarwal said, adding that the premium paid by the exporters under this component also would not exceed the pre-distruption rates.
Under this second component, ECGC would provide cover up to 95% of losses faced, subject to verification.
The third and largest component, accounting for ₹282 crore, is aimed at only MSME exporters that have been affected so far, and that have not availed of ECGC cover so far, and applies to consignments between February 14 and March 15, 2026.
In order to ensure that only MSMEs avail of this third component, the support is capped at ₹50 lakh per exporter.
Protection and indemnity insurance club
Apart from the ECGC insurance cover, the government is also in talks to create a protection and indemnity insurance (P&I) club to reduce dependence on foreign insurers.
“At present, the country does not have a P&I club, we must institute it and it is an important subject for us,” Mr. Sinha stated. “It will take time, but we will create one. Presently, it is at a matured deliberation level. Further, whenever it is formed it would be in gradual levels, that is, covering one segment and with maturity, scaling it further.”
P&I insurance is the policy shipowners use to protect themselves against liability claims from crew, passengers and/or third parties that extends beyond the purview of conventional maritime insurance.
Published – March 19, 2026 08:06 pm IST
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/government-announces-497-crore-relief-scheme-for-exporters-impacted-by-west-asian-crisis/article70762319.ece
