Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)

What is the Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)?

The Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) is a scheme of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, that helps build the physical infrastructure exports depend on. According to the Department of Commerce, TIES provides grant-in-aid to central and state government agencies to create new or upgrade existing infrastructure that has significant export linkages.

TIES was launched in March 2017 and has been implemented from financial year 2017-18, taking over the export-infrastructure role of the earlier ASIDE (Assistance to States for Development of Export Infrastructure) scheme, which was discontinued in 2015. The idea is that even the most competitive exporter is held back if goods cannot be tested, certified, stored, cleared and shipped efficiently, so the government funds the shared infrastructure that many exporters use.

TIES is not a subsidy to exporters and it is not a citizen benefit. It is a capital grant to government-owned agencies that build export infrastructure which the wider exporting community then uses.

What infrastructure does TIES fund?

TIES supports infrastructure projects with a clear export linkage, including:

• Border haats and land customs stations for trade with neighbouring countries.
• Quality testing and certification laboratories so products can meet export standards.
• Cold chains and temperature-controlled storage for perishable exports.
• Trade promotion centres and convention facilities.
• Export warehousing and packaging facilities.
• Dry ports and cargo terminals at ports and airports.

Projects that only serve the domestic market, without a demonstrable export linkage, do not qualify. The export connection is central to the scheme.

How much grant does TIES provide?

The central assistance under TIES is a grant-in-aid, and it is capped in two ways:

• Per-project ceiling: the central grant is subject to a ceiling of Rs 20 crore for each infrastructure project.
• Equity link: the grant is normally not more than the equity put in by the implementing agency, or 50% of the total project equity, whichever is lower.

For projects located in the North Eastern States and Himalayan States, including Jammu and Kashmir, the grant can be higher, up to 80% of the total equity: reflecting the greater difficulty and cost of building infrastructure in these regions.

Because the grant is tied to the agency's own equity, the implementing agency must have real financial commitment to the project; TIES is designed to supplement, not fully fund, government investment in export infrastructure.

Who is eligible for TIES?

Eligible implementing agencies are:

• Central and state government agencies, and their joint ventures where the government holds the major stake.
• Export Promotion Councils and commodity boards.
• SEZ authorities.
• Apex trade bodies recognised under the Foreign Trade Policy.

The infrastructure created must be owned by the government agency (or its majority-owned joint venture) and must have significant export linkages.

Who cannot apply or claim a benefit:

• Individuals cannot claim a personal benefit under TIES. It funds infrastructure, not people, and there is no citizen application.
• Private companies cannot receive the grant. A purely private firm is not an eligible implementing agency, although private participation can occur through a government-majority joint venture.
• Projects without a genuine export linkage, or that duplicate existing facilities, are not eligible.

How to apply for TIES support

TIES is applied for by an eligible implementing agency, not by exporters directly. The process is:

1. The eligible implementing agency identifies an export-infrastructure project with clear export linkages and firms up its equity commitment.
2. It prepares a detailed project report covering the infrastructure, its export linkage, cost, funding pattern, land and clearances, and expected outcomes.
3. It submits the proposal to the Department of Commerce in the prescribed format.
4. An inter-ministerial supported Committee appraises the proposal against the scheme's criteria: export linkage, viability and funding pattern — and sanctions the grant-in-aid with conditions.
5. The agency implements the project with the grant released in stages, and the supported Committee monitors progress and the achievement of export outcomes until completion.

The supported Committee is an inter-ministerial body chaired by the Commerce Secretary, constituted specifically for TIES. It appraises each proposal, sanctions the grant with conditions, and then periodically reviews the approved projects to make sure they deliver the export outcomes promised. This committee structure is what keeps TIES a scrutinised capital-grant scheme rather than an open subsidy: every rupee is tied to a specific, appraised project.

How many projects has TIES funded?

TIES has funded a modest but concrete set of projects since it began. According to the Department of Commerce, financial assistance for a total of 40 export infrastructure projects was approved across the years FY 2019-20 to FY 2022-23, and about Rs 278 crore was released for these projects over that period. These figures show the scheme working as intended. A capped grant filling specific infrastructure gaps, not a large-outlay programme. Because approvals and releases are made project by project through the supported Committee, the annual numbers vary with the quality and readiness of the proposals that state agencies and Export Promotion Councils bring forward.

How exporters benefit indirectly

Even though exporters cannot apply for TIES, they are its ultimate beneficiaries. A new testing and certification lab built with TIES support lets local exporters certify products to international standards without shipping samples across the country. A cold chain near a production cluster reduces spoilage of perishable exports. A border haat or land customs station speeds up cross-border trade. In each case, TIES lowers the shared cost and friction that would otherwise weigh on every exporter in the region.

For an exporter, the practical implication is to engage with state export authorities and Export Promotion Councils about the export-infrastructure projects proposed for their cluster, since those bodies are the ones that channel TIES proposals.

How TIES fits with other export schemes

TIES occupies a distinct place among India's export schemes. RoDTEP and RoSCTL remit embedded taxes on exported goods; the interest subvention scheme cuts the cost of export credit; and MAI funds market-development and promotion. TIES, by contrast, is the only one aimed at hard infrastructure, the labs, cold chains, dry ports and border facilities that make exporting physically possible and efficient.

Because the money goes to government agencies rather than exporters, TIES works upstream of the firm-level incentives. A cluster of small exporters cannot build a shared testing lab or a dry port on its own, and no single firm would fund infrastructure that its competitors also use. TIES solves this collective problem by putting a capped central grant behind a government agency willing to put in its own equity, with a higher grant share for the harder geographies of the North East, the Himalayan states and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Rs 20 crore per-project ceiling keeps TIES focused on filling specific infrastructure gaps rather than funding very large ports or highways, which are covered by other ministries and larger programmes. The supported Committee's appraisal and monitoring role is meant to ensure each project delivers a real, measurable improvement in export capacity rather than becoming an under-used asset.

Help and where to verify

• Department of Commerce: commerce.gov.in, for the TIES guidelines, the application format and the list of sanctioned projects
• State export/industry departments and Export Promotion Councils. The agencies that typically prepare and route TIES proposals

Because the per-project ceiling, equity conditions and eligible infrastructure list can be revised through updated guidelines, an implementing agency should confirm the current TIES terms with the Department of Commerce before preparing a proposal.