The government on Thursday (March 19, 2026) launched the ₹ 497 crore Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) program to provide credit insurance to exporters whose goods are stranded due to the crisis in West Asia or who plan to export to the Gulf in the next few months. Premiums under this scheme would be at pre-conflict levels and focus on MSME beneficiaries.
While announcing the scheme, Ministry of Commerce and Industry officials acknowledged the hardships faced by Indian exporters due to restrictions caused by the war in West Asia and said that the RELIEF scheme was aimed at alleviating this situation and providing assurance on their exports.
“Our exporters who export to the Middle East are facing some challenges,” Commerce Minister Rajesh Agrawal told a press conference. “There have been cases where exports that were destined for some countries in the region could not reach their destination. There are concerns among exporters, especially those with exposure to Middle Eastern countries. Their future exports are also affected.”
In a separate inter-ministerial briefing, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Rajesh Kumar Sinha said that there are currently two container ships bound for Oman and the UAE in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Both are container ships (operating in the eastern part), the first one is CMA CGM Vitoria which is at Sohar port in Oman and has 24 Indian seamen on board,” Mr Sinha said. “The other is the SSL Godavari, which is on its way to Khor Fakkan port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has 23 Indian sailors on board.”
To help exporters affected by stranded consignments, the government announced the RELIEF scheme, which would be part of the export promotion mission announced in the 2025 budget and implemented during 2025-26.
Schematic outlines
The RELIEF program is to have three parts, Foreign Trade Director General Lav Agarwal explained at the briefing.
The first component, comprising ₹56 crore, is aimed at exporters who already have credit insurance from ECGC Ltd. (formerly the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India) which is wholly owned by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Under the scheme, such exporters would be able to avail premiums at pre-disturbance rates and the cover would be extended to shipments where a waybill or air waybill is issued between February 14 and March 15, 2026. It would also apply only to shipments bound for the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Iraq, Yemen, Oman.
“ECGC covers losses due to war risks and related political risks in affected countries,” Mr. Agarwal said. “It also provides extended coverage of up to 100% of losses, subject to certain conditions and verification.”
The government would reimburse ECGC for the compensation paid beyond the amount payable under the existing ECGC policy cover.
Future exports also covered
The second component of the scheme, involving ₹159 crore, is aimed at those exporters who have not yet opted for ECGC coverage and intend to export to the affected countries in the next three months. Coverage would apply to those shipments for which a boarding waybill or air waybill was issued between March 16 and June 15, 2026. However, energy shipments are excluded.
“The purpose is to encourage exporters to opt for ECGC credit insurance cover for shipments to the listed countries,” Mr. Agarwal said, adding that the premiums paid by exporters under this component will also not exceed the pre-disruption rates.
Under this second component, ECGC would provide coverage of up to 95% of losses incurred, subject to verification.
The third and largest component, representing ₹ 282 crore, is targeted only at MSME exporters who have been affected so far and who have not yet availed the ECGC cover, and covers shipments between February 14 and March 15, 2026.
To ensure that only MSMEs benefit from this third component, the support is limited to ₹50,000 per exporter.
Protection and Indemnity Insurance Club
In addition to the ECGC insurance cover, the government is also discussing the creation of a Protection and Indemnity (P&I) insurance club to reduce dependence on foreign insurers.
“Currently the country does not have a P&I club, we need to introduce one and it is an important topic for us,” said Mr. Sinha. “It will take some time, but we will create one. It is currently at the mature thinking level. Further, whenever it is created, it will be in incremental levels, meaning it will cover one segment and scale further as it matures.”
P&I insurance is a policy used by shipowners to protect against liability claims by crew, passengers and/or third parties that goes beyond the scope of conventional marine insurance.
Published – 19 March 2026 20:06 IST
