Mai Scheme Incentivising Exports In A New Avatar

The industry is very positive about the revisions introduced to MAI Scheme expects accelerated export growth as a result

- Usha Sharma

The Indian pharma sector has registered exports growth rate in double digits in the first quarter of the current fiscal after nearly three years. The future too seems bright for growth as the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recently revised the provisions of the ‘Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme.

The MAI Scheme which was already in existence provides reimbursement of expenditure incurred by exporters on statutory compliance in the export market/nation. The scheme also avails other benefits like Marketing Projects Abroad, Capacity Building in specific nation/ countries, support for statutory compliance, different studies related to market, export surveys, studies related to evolving WTO compatible strategy, project development and for the development of foreign trade facilitation web portal. All these benefits already provide considerable assistance to Indian exporters. Then, what is the rationale behind the launch of the revised MAI Scheme for pharma exporters? And, what are its benefits?

Revised MAI Scheme and new components

As per the latest order issued by the government, it has raised the ceiling to ̀ 2 crore a year per exporter from existing ̀ 50 lakh. Under the new guidelines, any exporting company can claim reimbursement incurred towards statutory compliances on a 50:50 sharing basis up to a maximum amount of 2 crore in a year. The revised MAI Scheme is already under effect.