The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced significant relief measures for exporters to alleviate financial pressures amid global trade challenges and tightening liquidity. Effective immediately, the RBI has extended the period for realization and repatriation of export proceeds from 9 months to 15 months for goods, software and services. This extension applies uniformly across all types of exporters, including Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Export Oriented Units (EOUs) and software parks, promoting ease of doing business in international trade.
Additionally, exporters who receive advance payments can now ship goods within 3 years instead of the previous 1-year limit, providing greater flexibility for handling complex or long-term contracts. To further support exporters facing cash flow issues due to delays or disruptions, the RBI has allowed banks to permit a moratorium on term loan installments and interest on working capital loans due between September 1 and December 31, 2025. Moreover, the maximum credit period for pre-shipment and post-shipment export credit has been extended from 270 days to 450 days for loans disbursed up to March 31, 2026, enabling exporters to better manage their working capital during prolonged payment cycles.
Exporters who availed packing credit before August 31, 2025, but could not dispatch goods due to supply delays, may liquidate these facilities through legitimate alternatives such as domestic sales or substitute export contracts. The RBI’s Trade Relief Measures Directions, 2025, aim to ease liquidity constraints, maintain credit discipline, and stabilize trade financing flows, providing much-needed support to Indian exporters navigating uncertain global market conditions.
These measures represent a comprehensive effort by the RBI to strengthen India’s export ecosystem, improve competitiveness, and align export compliance with global trade practices.
