Union Budget 2025: Govt to set up Export Promotion Mission with an outlay of ₹2,250 crore

The government on Saturday announced the setting up of an Export Promotion Mission with an outlay of ₹2,250 crore to promote the country's outbound shipments.

The mission will be driven jointly by the ministries of commerce, MSME, and finance.

It will facilitate easy access to export credit, cross-border factoring support, and support to MSMEs to tackle non-tariff measures in overseas markets, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

"We will set up an Export Promotion Mission, with sectoral and ministerial targets, driven jointly by the Ministries of Commerce, MSME, and Finance," she said.

She also said a digital public infrastructure, 'BharatTradeNet' (BTN) for international trade will be set up as a unified platform for trade documentation and financing solutions.

"This will complement the Unified Logistics Interface Platform. The BTN will be aligned with international practices," she said.

It will be a new Digital Public Infrastructure to be a part of the India Stack, which currently includes products such as UPI, Aadhaar, ONDC, and DigiLocker.

According to the ministry, it will be designed to digitise, streamline, and modernise India's international trade ecosystem.

It aims to eliminate paper-based processes, improve trade finance access, and enhance regulatory compliance by integrating key stakeholders such as Customs, DGFT, GSTN, banks, and exporters into a unified digital platform.

To boost MSME exports, the Budget also announced a revision of MSME classification criteria.

The ministry said exporter MSMEs can avail of increased credit benefits from ₹5 crore to ₹10 crore, generating additional credit of ₹1.5 lakh crore in the next five years.

"Well-run exporter MSMEs will receive increased term loans from ₹10 crore to ₹20 crore," it said, adding that the announcement of credit cards for micro-enterprises will benefit e-commerce exporters.

Further to promote exports from the marine sector, the government announced a reduction in customs duty on frozen fish paste (Surimi) from 30% to 5% to support export manufacturing.