Goa State Export Market Development Scheme, 2008

What was the Goa State Export Market Development Scheme, 2008?

Goa State Export Market Development Scheme, 2008 was an export promotion scheme of the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce, Government of Goa. Its purpose was to encourage Goan industries to improve export markets and to support them in establishing their goods firmly in the export market, thereby generating growth and employment.

The scheme addressed a narrow but real problem. A Goan manufacturer that wants to sell abroad usually cannot do so from a desk. Somebody has to take a stall at an international trade show, or travel to study the target market first-hand. Both cost money up front, months before any order arrives, and a mid-sized unit's working capital is rarely available for that kind of speculative spend.

Goa's answer was not a grant but an interest-free loan: money that had to come back, but at no financing cost, on a long five-year tail. That is a significant design choice: it kept the State's exposure recoverable while removing the interest burden that would otherwise make an exploratory trip uneconomic.

Status. The scheme remained in force until 31st March, 2011, and the myScheme portal records the scheme open date as 15 January 2009 and the close date as 31 March 2011. Anyone looking for export market support in Goa today should approach the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce for the current instrument.

Who was eligible for the Export Market Development Scheme?

A unit could apply if:

• It was set up in Goa.
• It was permanently registered, or acknowledged with Entrepreneurs Memorandum II, by the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce.
• It had been in operation for a minimum period of three years.
• It held an import or export code issued by the Reserve Bank of India, the Government of India, or any competent authority of the Government of India.
• Its total turnover for the last three preceding financial years did not exceed Rs 10,00,00,000.
• It had not already availed this facility. One unit could avail the facility only once under the scheme in its lifetime.

A unit could not apply, or was not eligible, if:

• It was not set up in Goa, or not registered or acknowledged with the Directorate.
• It had been in operation for less than three years.
• It held no import or export code from a competent authority.
• Its turnover exceeded Rs 10 crore across the last three preceding financial years.
• It had already availed the facility once.
• It was a sold or transferred unit whose original unit had already taken benefits under the scheme. The scheme closed this route expressly.
• It was an individual rather than a registered unit. There was no citizen application and no personal benefit under this scheme.

What did the scheme provide?

Repayment terms:

• The loan was repayable over five years in equal half-yearly instalments — ten instalments in all.
• Delay in payment carried interest at 14% per annum. The loan was interest-free only if serviced on time.
• Collateral security equal to the quantum of contribution sought, or to the amount the unit was eligible for, had to be furnished. On failure to repay, the collateral security was forfeited.
• Post-dated cheques for the repayment of the fixed instalments had to be furnished, and non-realisation of any cheque could lead to prosecution.

That is a firmer security package than most State industrial incentives carry, and it reflects that this was a lending scheme rather than a subsidy. A unit taking it was putting real assets behind a speculative trip.

What documents did the application need?

How to apply for the Export Market Development Scheme

1. Obtain the specified proforma from the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce. Alternatively, the prescribed format could be downloaded from the Directorate's official website.
2. Take a print of the form, fill in all the mandatory fields, paste a passport-sized photograph, and attach self-attested copies of all the mandatory documents, the permanent registration certificate, the import or export goods certificate, and the Chartered Accountant certified financial statements for the last three preceding years.
3. Arrange the collateral security equal to the quantum of contribution sought or the amount the unit was eligible for, and prepare the post-dated cheques for the repayment instalments.
4. Submit the duly filled and signed application form with the documents to the Director, Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce.
5. File at least 30 days before the study tour or exhibition. The scheme required units to apply to the Directorate at least 30 days prior, unless otherwise agreed by the Director of Industries, Trade and Commerce.
6. Await the decision, which was intimated within two weeks. The Director of Industries, Trade and Commerce intimated the decision within two weeks to the unit.
7. Collect the disbursement if approved. The loan was disbursed by the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce.
8. Submit a detailed report within 30 days of returning from the visit. The promoter of the unit who availed the facility was required to do so.

What happened after the trip?

The reporting obligation is a defining feature of the scheme and easily overlooked. The promoter who availed the facility had to submit a detailed report within 30 days of return from the visit.

That requirement makes sense given the scheme's design. The State was lending public money for a market development exercise whose benefit is, by nature, difficult to measure. The post-visit report was the only mechanism by which the Directorate could see what the trip actually achieved, and it fed into the Directorate's wider export promotion work.

Why would an application have failed?

• Less than three years in operation. A newly set up unit, however export-oriented, did not qualify.
• No import or export code from the RBI, the Government of India or another competent authority.
• Turnover above Rs 10 crore across the last three preceding financial years.
• Facility already availed once, or availed by the original unit before a sale or transfer.
• Collateral security not arranged, which was a condition rather than an option.
• Post-dated cheques not furnished for the repayment instalments.
• Application filed less than 30 days before the exhibition or study tour, without the Director's agreement.
• Financial statements not certified by a Chartered Accountant for the full three preceding years.

Where do I complain?

The Director, Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce, Government of Goa, was the deciding and disbursing authority under this scheme, and remains the department for export promotion and industrial registration in the State. Its website is at ditc.goa.gov.in.

The Government of Goa's public grievance route is the escalation path where the Directorate's response is unsatisfactory.

Practical points

• The scheme is closed. Its stated period ran to 31 March 2011. Goa's export promotion work has since moved through instruments such as the State's export strategy and district-level exporter engagement, and the Directorate is the right place to ask what is currently available.
• This was a loan, not a grant. The interest-free element was the benefit; the principal always had to come back, secured by collateral and post-dated cheques.
• The 14% delay interest was the real cost of slipping. A unit that missed instalments lost the entire benefit of the scheme and then some.
• One shot per unit, ever. The once-in-a-lifetime limit meant the choice of which exhibition or which market to study was consequential.
• Individuals could not apply. Only registered units set up in Goa with an import or export code were eligible, so this was never a citizen-facing scheme.

How to check your application status

The Export Market Development Scheme, 2008 never had an online tracking portal. Status was, and still is, checked directly with the office that decided the application.

• There was no digital dashboard or SMS update. The scheme's application mode was entirely offline: a printed proforma submitted to the Director, Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce, so tracking was offline too.
• The Director's office intimated the decision within two weeks of submission. If that window passed with no communication, the correct step was to follow up in person or in writing with the Directorate, quoting the application date and the unit's registration or Entrepreneurs Memorandum II number.
• After approval, disbursement was handled by the same Directorate. A unit that had been sanctioned the loan but had not received the amount needed to raise that separately with the Directorate, since sanction and disbursement were not always the same date.
• The scheme closed on 31 March 2011, so no fresh applications or status queries are possible today. A unit that holds records of an old sanction or wants archived case history should still address the query to the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce, Government of Goa, whose current web presence is at ditc.goa.gov.in, since the Directorate retains administrative records of schemes it has since closed.
• No dedicated helpline number is published for this scheme, closed or otherwise, so the Directorate's general office contact is the only route for a status query.