Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme

What is the Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme?

The Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme is an export-promotion scheme of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. MAI provides financial assistance to organisations that help Indian products and services reach new overseas markets; Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), commodity boards, trade promotion organisations, recognised industry clusters, approved laboratories and certain government bodies, as well as exporters for specific activities.

MAI was launched in 2003 and has been revised several times. It works on a Focus Product–Focus Market approach: rather than spreading thin support everywhere, it concentrates assistance on promoting particular products in particular markets where India has export potential. The scheme funds the kind of "soft" market-development work that individual firms, especially MSMEs, often cannot afford on their own, market research, participation in international trade fairs, brand building and meeting foreign regulatory requirements.

MAI is not a cash subsidy paid to citizens. It is a grant to eligible institutions and, in limited cases, exporters, to carry out approved export-promotion activities.

What activities does MAI fund?

According to the Department of Commerce guidelines, MAI supports a range of export-promotion activities, including:

• Market studies and surveys to identify opportunities in specific overseas markets.
• Participation in international trade fairs, exhibitions and buyer-seller meets, including India-focused shows abroad.
• Publicity, advertising and brand promotion of Indian products in target markets.
• Setting up showrooms, warehouses and marketing infrastructure overseas.
• Capacity building, workshops and training for exporters.
• Reimbursement of statutory compliance costs; testing, certification and registration charges required to sell in a foreign market.

The Focus Product–Focus Market design means proposals are appraised for how well they target a defined product and market with genuine export potential.

How much assistance does MAI provide?

MAI assistance is activity-based, not a single lump sum, and the funding share depends on both the activity and the type of applicant:

• Studies, seminars and promotional activities undertaken by government bodies and EPCs can be funded up to 100%.
• Trade-fair participation, publicity and brand promotion by industry associations or individual exporters are part-funded on a cost-sharing basis, with the government meeting a defined percentage and the applicant the rest.

The precise percentages and per-activity ceilings are set by the Department of Commerce each year based on budget allocations, and the current cost norms are published with the scheme guidelines. Because these ceilings are revised, an applicant should confirm the current figures with the Department of Commerce or its EPC rather than rely on a fixed number.

Who is eligible for the MAI Scheme?

The following organisations can apply:

• Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) and commodity boards.
• Trade promotion organisations and apex trade and industry bodies.
• Recognised industry and export clusters.
• Approved laboratories and institutions working on export-related standards and testing.
• Certain central and state government departments and agencies engaged in export promotion.

Individual exporters can apply, but only for specified components; most notably reimbursement of statutory compliance, testing and registration charges needed to access a foreign market, and only within the scheme's norms.

Who cannot claim a personal benefit:

• Individuals cannot claim a cash benefit for personal use. MAI is an institutional export-promotion scheme, and there is no personal grant.
• A firm or body that is not registered with an EPC or does not fall within the eligible categories is generally not eligible to lead a proposal.
• Activities that fall outside the notified MAI components or the Focus Product–Focus Market framework are not eligible for funding.

How to apply for MAI assistance

MAI proposals are routed through eligible organisations, most often the relevant Export Promotion Council. The steps are:

1. Identify the activity and the target. The Focus Product and Focus Market, for example participating in a named trade fair or commissioning a market study — and check it against the eligible MAI components.
2. Prepare a proposal in the prescribed MAI format, with the activity plan, itemised budget matching the MAI cost norms, and the expected export outcome.
3. Route the proposal through your Export Promotion Council or eligible agency, which forwards it to the Department of Commerce.
4. The Department appraises the proposal against MAI norms and the available budget, and issues a sanction with the approved amount and conditions.
5. Carry out the activity, then submit a utilisation certificate and outcome report accounting for the grant and reporting the export results.

Individual exporters seeking assistance for statutory compliance follow the component-specific procedure notified under the scheme, typically as a reimbursement claim supported by proof of the compliance cost incurred.

Why MAI matters for exporters

Breaking into a new overseas market is expensive and risky, especially for smaller firms. The cost of a stall at an international trade fair, a professional market study, or getting a product certified to a foreign standard can be prohibitive for an MSME acting alone. By pooling this work through EPCs and sharing the cost, MAI lowers the barrier to market entry and lets exporters test new markets without bearing the full expense.

For most exporters, the practical route to MAI benefits is through their Export Promotion Council, joining council-organised trade fairs and delegations that are already part-funded under MAI; rather than filing a standalone proposal.

MAI compared with other export-promotion support

It helps to see where MAI sits among the government's export schemes. RoDTEP and RoSCTL refund embedded taxes on goods already exported; the interest subvention scheme lowers borrowing costs; and TIES builds physical infrastructure. MAI is different again, it funds the market-development and promotion work that comes before an export order exists: finding the buyer, attending the fair, meeting the foreign standard.

This is why MAI is delivered largely through Export Promotion Councils and commodity boards rather than paid to firms directly. A council can organise a national pavilion at a major overseas fair, part-funded under MAI, that dozens of member exporters share; far more efficient than each firm booking a stall alone. For a start-up or first-time exporter, this pooled model is often the only affordable way to appear in an international market at all.

The Focus Product–Focus Market discipline also means MAI money is meant to be outcome-driven: proposals are appraised on the export potential of the chosen product-market pair, and the utilisation report is expected to show what exports or buyer contacts resulted. Applicants should therefore frame proposals around a concrete market opportunity, not a generic promotional wish list.

Help and where to verify

• Department of Commerce: commerce.gov.in, for the MAI guidelines and cost norms
• Your Export Promotion Council or commodity board, the main channel for MAI-funded trade fairs, delegations and studies
• Scheme guidelines list the eligible components, funding shares and ceilings

Because MAI's components, funding percentages and annual ceilings are revised through updated guidelines, applicants should confirm the current terms with the Department of Commerce or their Export Promotion Council before planning an activity around the scheme.

How to check your application status

MAI does not have a citizen-facing online tracking portal or a case-number lookup, since proposals move between an eligible organisation, its Export Promotion Council (EPC) and the Department of Commerce rather than being filed directly by individuals. To check where a proposal stands:

1. Follow up with your Export Promotion Council or commodity board first. Since most proposals are routed through an EPC, the council usually holds the file and communicates directly with the Department of Commerce on its progress. This is the fastest way to get a status update, faster than approaching the Department directly.
2. Ask the EPC for the proposal's file or reference number issued when it forwarded your submission, and quote this in every follow-up so the council can locate the correct file among the proposals it is tracking.
3. Contact the Department of Commerce (commerce.gov.in) directly if your organisation submitted as an eligible government body or approved institution without an intermediary EPC. Since there is no dedicated MAI citizen helpline, queries go through the general commerce.gov.in channels or the concerned division handling export promotion schemes.
4. Check for a written sanction letter or communication from the Department. Approved proposals are issued a sanction with the amount and conditions attached; if no sanction or rejection communication has arrived, the proposal is still under appraisal.
5. After the activity, track the utilisation report separately. Once a grant is sanctioned and the activity carried out, the organisation must submit a utilisation certificate and outcome report; the release of any balance payment or the closure of the grant typically depends on the Department accepting this report, so a delay at this stage is a separate status to follow up on, not the original sanction.
6. For statutory-compliance reimbursement claims by individual exporters, follow up through the same component-specific office that received the reimbursement claim, since these are handled as individual claims rather than through the EPC-routed proposal process.

Since MAI proposals move through an intermediary, delays are common and are not always visible to the applicant until the EPC or Department responds, so applicants should build in a periodic follow-up rather than expecting proactive status updates.

Common reasons for rejection

• Proposal does not fit the Focus Product-Focus Market framework. MAI funds activities targeted at a specific product and a specific overseas market with demonstrable export potential; a generic promotional plan without a clearly identified product-market pair is likely to be turned down. The fix is to frame the proposal around one concrete market opportunity, naming the product, the target country and the expected export outcome, rather than a broad promotional wish list.
• Applicant does not fall within an eligible category. MAI funding goes to EPCs, commodity boards, trade promotion organisations, recognised industry clusters, approved laboratories and certain government agencies; individual exporters are eligible only for specified components such as statutory compliance reimbursement. A firm that is not registered with an EPC, or that tries to claim a personal or general business benefit, will be rejected on eligibility grounds. The fix is to route the proposal through the relevant EPC or confirm eligibility under a specific notified component before submitting.
• Activity is not among the notified MAI components. Only defined activities qualify: market studies, trade fair participation, publicity and brand promotion, overseas showrooms and warehouses, capacity building, and statutory compliance reimbursement. A proposal for an activity outside this list, however useful it may be for the exporter, does not qualify and gets rejected. The fix is to map the proposed activity explicitly to one of the notified components in the proposal document itself.
• Budget does not match MAI cost norms. The Department of Commerce sets activity-based cost norms and ceilings that are revised periodically; a budget that exceeds the current ceiling for that activity type, or that is not itemised against the norms, is a common ground for the proposal being sent back or rejected. The fix is to check the current cost norms with the Department or the EPC before finalising the budget, and to itemise costs against each approved head rather than submitting a lump-sum figure.
• Proposal format or documentation is incomplete. A proposal missing the prescribed MAI format, the applicant's registration proof, or a clear budget and expected export outcome is commonly returned for resubmission rather than appraised on merit. The fix is to use the prescribed format in full and attach registration and budget documents before the EPC forwards it, since an incomplete proposal simply delays or blocks appraisal rather than being rejected outright.
• Utilisation and outcome report not submitted or found inadequate for a past grant. Where an applicant has an earlier MAI grant with a pending or unsatisfactory utilisation certificate, a new proposal can be held up or rejected until the earlier account is settled. The fix is to close out utilisation reporting on any prior MAI-funded activity before applying for a fresh one.
• Weak or unsubstantiated export outcome projection. Since MAI is meant to be outcome-driven, a proposal that does not show a credible link between the activity and likely export or buyer-contact results can be appraised unfavourably against proposals with a clearer projected outcome. The fix is to include realistic, activity-specific expected outcomes (for example, buyer meetings targeted at a named trade fair) rather than generic statements about boosting exports.