India’s export competitiveness is increasingly shaped by what happens after shipment. In global markets, buyers expect faster delivery, local inventory availability, efficient fulfilment, and responsive service. For many Indian exporters, especially MSMEs, this remains a major challenge.

To address this gap, the Government has introduced FLOW (Facilitating Logistics, Overseas Warehousing and Fulfilment) under the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) – NIRYAT DISHA. The scheme provides financial assistance of 30% of the project cost (subject to prescribed ceilings) for creating overseas market-facing logistics and fulfilment infrastructure.

FLOW is a strategic intervention that can help Indian exporters strengthen their global reach, improve customer experience, and scale cross-border e-commerce.

What is FLOW?

FLOW stands for Facilitating Logistics, Overseas Warehousing and Fulfilment. It is an export facilitation initiative designed to support the development and operation of overseas infrastructure that improves delivery and fulfilment capability for Indian exports.

The scheme is meant to address practical barriers that often limit export growth, such as:

• long delivery timelines
• lack of overseas storage facilities
• weak fulfilment capability in destination markets
• Higher logistics costs
• limited responsiveness to customer demand

By supporting shared overseas logistics and fulfilment arrangements, FLOW aims to make Indian exports more competitive in international markets.

Key Objectives of the FLOW Scheme

The scheme has been designed to support exporters through better market side logistics infrastructure. Its core objectives include:

• Improving export delivery efficiency
• Reducing logistics costs
• Enhancing customer responsiveness
• Strengthening cross-border e-commerce integration

This is especially relevant for sectors where speed to market, local inventory placement, and fulfilment reliability directly affect customer retention and repeat orders.

Scope of Support under FLOW

Financial assistance is available for overseas market-facing infrastructure and arrangements across the following areas:

1. Overseas Warehousing Facilities

Support for warehousing infrastructure in foreign markets to store goods closer to buyers and reduce delivery lead times.

2. Overseas Fulfilment Arrangements

Support for fulfilment services and arrangements that enable order processing, packaging, dispatch, and customer servicing in overseas markets.

3. Display / Market Access Facilities

Support for display and market access infrastructure to improve visibility of Indian products and facilitate buyer engagement.

4. E-Commerce Export Hubs (ECEHs)

Support for integrated export hubs focused on cross-border e-commerce, including aggregation and fulfilment functions.

What Expenses are Covered?

FLOW supports operational and recurring expenditure required for running overseas export infrastructure.

Covered expenses

• Lease/rental charges
• Operational expenses
• Common facility costs

Excluded expenses

• Capital expenditure is not covered

This structure makes the scheme especially useful for entities looking to operationalise overseas infrastructure without relying on capex reimbursement.

Who is Eligible to Apply?

FLOW is open to a broad range of export ecosystem institutions and implementing entities.

Eligible applicants include

• Export Promotion Councils and Commodity Boards
• Logistics and fulfilment service providers
• Industry associations and export clusters
• Central Government and State Government organisations
• Government recommended entities

Eligibility note

• Only Indian incorporated entities are eligible

This supports domestic institutional participation while enabling overseas implementation through approved arrangements.

Financial Assistance under FLOW (30% of Project Cost)

The Government provides 30% of project cost as financial assistance, subject to intervention specific ceilings.

Support ceilings by intervention

Duration of support

• Assistance is available for a maximum of 3 years

This time bound support model is intended to help projects become operationally viable and build sustainable overseas export infrastructure

Conclusion

The FLOW scheme under EPM NIRYAT DISHA is an important step toward building India’s overseas export logistics capability. With 30% financial assistance, clear intervention wise ceilings, MSME linkage requirements, and a structured governance framework, the scheme supports a more competitive and globally connected export ecosystem.

Entities involved in export promotion, logistics, fulfilment, and industry cluster development should evaluate the scheme for potential participation and implementation opportunities.