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.