Commerce Ministry Forms Six-Member Committee to Monitor RELIEF Initiative for Exporters

The commerce ministry has established a six-member sub-committee to oversee fund utilization and improve the implementation of the RELIEF initiative. Launched under the Export Promotion Mission, RELIEF is designed to help exporters navigate soaring freight costs and trade disruptions.

NEW DELHI: The commerce ministry has constituted a six-member sub-committee aimed at ensuring better fund utilization and improved uptake of the Resilience and Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) initiative.

RELIEF is a government initiative launched under the ₹25,060-crore Export Promotion Mission (EPM). The program is targeted at protecting exporters from rising freight costs, increased insurance premiums, and maritime trade disruptions occurring in the Gulf and West Asian corridors.

According to a trade notice issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the newly formed sub-committee is tasked with driving better utilization of funds and increasing the uptake of the intervention.

The six-member panel comprises three officials from the DGFT, alongside one official each from the Department of Commerce, the Department of Financial Services, and the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC).

The sub-committee has been given specific mandates regarding the review and implementation of the program. Its responsibilities include reviewing the implementation progress of the three components of RELIEF, monitoring claims processed, and tracking the balance of available funds as reported by the ECGC.

Additionally, the panel is expected to examine the various factors affecting the uptake of the intervention and the utilization of approved funds. Based on these evaluations, the sub-committee will recommend measures to improve fund utilization and overall adoption of the initiative among exporters.

"The formation of this dedicated sub-committee is a practical step toward ensuring that allocated financial support reaches exporters effectively. By closely monitoring claim processing, fund utilization, and ground-level challenges such as high freight costs and maritime disruptions, the administration can address bottlenecks and improve the implementation of the RELIEF initiative. For businesses operating in international trade, efficient execution of such government interventions is critical to maintaining supply chain resilience." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes