Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank)

Choose the right door

• Exim Bank is a bank first. Every product expects an export link, so ask yourself whether your company exports, or has a firm plan to, before you approach it.
• If you are an early-stage company with a first export order and no track record, the exporter credit lines may not fit, because they ask for exporters with a proven record. The MSME-focused guarantee scheme, routed through partner banks, may be closer to your situation if you hold an Importer-Exporter Code and a Udyam Registration.
• If you are a small or mid-sized company with distinctive technology and some export traction, the Ubharte Sitaare Programme is the one to ask about.
• If you run a co-operative, trust, society or producer company working with artisans or rural producers, the grassroots programme is the one meant for you.

How applications work

• There is no online application form for the Ubharte Sitaare Programme, the grassroots programme, overseas investment finance or sustainable finance. The bank asks you to contact it, using the head office or the nearest regional office.
• For the Trade Assistance Programme, write to the programme's own email address, tap@eximbankindia.in. Partner banks handle the transaction itself.
• For Support for Emerging Export Opportunities, the application goes through the scheme's portal and a partner bank.
• For Marketing Advisory Services, send your company profile, printed material, export details and target markets, certifications, brochures, prices, minimum order quantity and samples.

How selection works

• The bank does not publish a scoring method. For the Ubharte Sitaare Programme, the bank identifies companies, so expect to be assessed rather than to compete in a round.
• Loan products expect security, such as a charge on assets, guarantees from the company or promoters, or a charge on regulatory approvals and intellectual property for research finance. Get this ready early.

What reviewers look for

• For the Ubharte Sitaare Programme: a distinctive technology, product or process, acceptable financials, an outward orientation, a good business model, strong management and attention to product quality.
• For the grassroots programme: a registered body with a proven, scalable livelihood model and an export link.
• For the MSME guarantee scheme: valid Importer-Exporter Code and Udyam Registration, and exports of goods that are permitted under the Foreign Trade Policy.

Export-Import Bank of India, usually called Exim Bank or India Exim Bank, is a statutory bank for export finance. It was set up by the Export-Import Bank of India Act, passed in September 1981, and began operations in March 1982. Its head office is in Mumbai, at the World Trade Centre Complex in Cuffe Parade.

Exim Bank is not a startup incubator and it does not run a grant call. It is a bank. Most of what it offers is credit: working capital for exporters, term loans for equipment and research, and finance for Indian companies investing abroad. A few of its schemes are closer to what a startup founder is looking for, and this page sorts them out so you can see which ones could apply to you.

What Exim Bank supports

The bank's own description is that it builds value by joining foreign trade and investment to India's economic growth. In practice, nearly every product asks for the same thing: your company must export, or have a credible plan to. A pre-revenue startup with no export orientation will not fit most of the products below.

The Ubharte Sitaare Programme is the one aimed at younger and mid-sized companies. It looks for Indian companies with a distinctive technology, product or process, acceptable financials and the ability to sell in global markets. The sectors it names as examples are automobiles and auto components, aerospace, capital goods, chemicals, defence, food processing, IT and IT-enabled services, machinery, pharmaceuticals, precision engineering and textiles. It does not name startups or deeptech as a focus.

How the programmes work

There is no single application portal and no fixed intake window across the bank. The pages for the Ubharte Sitaare Programme, the grassroots programme, overseas investment finance and sustainable finance all end the same way: contact the bank for further information, using the Mumbai head-office address or the regional office nearest you.

The Ubharte Sitaare Programme works by identification. The bank picks out companies with good export potential and can then support them with equity or equity-like instruments, with debt, and with technical assistance. Its page does not describe a dedicated fund, a cheque size or an application form, so a founder should treat it as a conversation to start with the bank, not a form to fill in.

The corporate banking products are conventional bank loans. They include pre-shipment and post-shipment credit for exporters, production equipment finance for export-oriented firms, and research and development finance for export-oriented units. Each carries security requirements and an export-orientation test, and these are set by the bank case by case. Research and development finance is generally extended for up to seven years.

Overseas investment finance is for Indian promoter companies that set up a joint venture or wholly owned subsidiary abroad. The bank gives term loans and non-fund-based support, with tenors usually in the five to seven year range and a suitable moratorium. The Sustainable Finance Programme finances green, transition, social and sustainability-linked investments by eligible borrowers under the bank's commercial credit business. Eligible borrowers include exporters with a proven record, vendors that supply exporting companies, and sustainable input providers to export-oriented units.

Support for MSME exporters

Two schemes are routed through partner commercial banks rather than directly to the exporter. The Trade Assistance Programme gives credit enhancement, such as standby letters of credit, reimbursement undertakings, risk participation and fronting of guarantees. This lets commercial banks support exports to markets they would otherwise treat as hard to reach. It covers exports of goods and services from India to countries that are not sanctioned under the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, for transactions of up to 365 days. Enquiries go to the programme's own email address, and a leaflet, a partner-bank list and answers to common questions are published on the bank's site.

Exim Bank also describes itself as an implementing agency for two schemes under the Government of India's Export Promotion Mission, aimed at the financing gap for MSMEs. One of them, Support for Emerging Export Opportunities, gives guarantee cover for letter-of-credit-backed exports to under-served markets, with risk shared from a trust fund managed by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company. To use it, an MSME needs a valid Importer-Exporter Code and a valid Udyam Registration Number, and exports go through partner banks.

Grassroots and institution-facing support

The Grassroots Initiatives for Development programme, known as GRID, is for registered organisations that work with communities on income-generating activity based on traditional skills. These can be societies, trusts, co-operatives, producer companies, NGOs, proprietorships and similar bodies. They must have a proven livelihood model that can be scaled, and must export or plan to. Support covers capacity building, matching grant support for product and process certification and for design and packaging, working capital, and term lending for common facility centres. It is for organisations, not for individual artisans.

Under the Ubharte Sitaare Programme, the bank also gives technical assistance, case by case, to academic institutions, incubation centres and research institutes that foster entrepreneurship and nurture startups. This is aimed at institutions, not at founders, and the page states no criteria.

Separately, Marketing Advisory Services helps Indian companies find overseas distributors, buyers and partners, using the bank's overseas presence. It works on a success-fee basis and is open to any company not on the negative list of India's Foreign Trade Policy and international conventions.

Who can apply

Most products are for Indian companies with an export link. Eligibility differs by product. The Ubharte Sitaare Programme names small and mid-sized Indian companies with a good business model, strong management and a focus on product quality. Production equipment finance asks for a minimum share of turnover to be exported, actual or projected, and a promoter margin. Pre-shipment and post-shipment credit asks for exporters with a proven track record, so it is not meant for a first sale by a brand-new company. Research and development finance asks for export orientation, actual or projected, of a minimum share of annual turnover.

The Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups appears on our site against this provider. Exim Bank's own pages do not describe a startup credit guarantee scheme or run one. If you are looking for that guarantee, ask the lender you apply to, and treat Exim Bank's own products as the ones listed here.

Contact and locations

The head office is at Centre One Building, 21st Floor, World Trade Centre Complex, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai 400 005. The general phone number is +91 22 2217 2600 and the general email is info@eximbankindia.in. The contact page offers a regional-office filter that lists Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune. If you are searching for how to apply for any of these, start with the regional office closest to your business, and ask for the team that handles the specific product.