Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal
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To help Indian exporters meet the tightening international quality standards, the government’s export promotion mission (EPM) will fund part of the compliance costs for regulations such as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and REACH, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said.
Producing high-quality goods and services is the only way for India to remain globally competitive, maximise the benefits of its free trade agreements (FTAs) and move towards achieving developed country status, the Minister said at a national quality conclave on Monday.
As part of the EPM, launched for five-years with a corpus of ₹22,060 crore, funds have been set aside for approval processes, wherever exporters, particularly micro and small units, require to get approvals internationally, Goyal said.
“A large part of it will be funded by the government to support micro and small industries, particularly whether it is REACH regulation of Europe…whether it’s CBAM verification to bring down your cost of carbon border adjustment mechanism tax or duty in Europe,” the Minister noted.
New opportunities
Outlining India’s trade outreach, Goyal said that nine FTAs had been finalised in the past three to three-and-a-half years with 38 developed countries, cover nearly two-thirds of global GDP and trade. “These agreements open new opportunities in sectors such as textiles, leather, footwear and pharmaceuticals, provided Indian products consistently meet the highest global benchmarks,” he said.
The Minister said that India’s current share in global trade remains modest, even in competitive and labour-intensive sectors, and urged industry to leverage new market access opportunities created through these agreements.
Goyal outlined a five-pillar agenda to institutionalise quality, starting with strict standard operating processes and continuous inspections from raw materials to finished goods. This strategy includes skilling the workforce to cut waste — particularly in textiles — and benchmarking against global best practices to boost competitiveness. To support this, the government will streamline certification to reduce delays and develop shared, automated testing infrastructure across manufacturing clusters.
Published on February 23, 2026