Cir No. 37 / M-25 / 2021

Circulars

28th July 2021

TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION:

Dear Member,

We are attaching herewith the revised Market Access Initiative Scheme 2021, which sees quite a few very beneficial changes in the Scheme.

For ease of reference, we are highlighting the changes effected as under:

S.No	MAI Guidelines uptil 31.03.2021	Revised MAI Guidelines w.e.f. 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2026
1	Participation in a Fair abroad Maximum 3 participation in a particular trade fair / exhibition only will be eligible for MAI Assistance, i.e. members who have availed assistance three time (including past cases) for a particular fair / exhibition, thereafter have to participate in that fair on their own.	Participation in a Fair abroadMaximum 3 participation in a particular trade fair / exhibition would only will be eligible for MAI Assistance. , i.e. members who have availed assistance three time (including past cases) for a particular fair / exhibition, thereafter have to participate in that fair on their own. In the case of exporters belonging to SC / ST/ Women and the exporters having F.O.B value of exports of or less than Rs. 50 crore in a year, 5 participations in a particular event is allowed.
2	EPCs / Trade Bodies must ensure that the MAI funding support is only provided to a member / participant company for a maximum of 2 (two) MAI events in a year.	EPCs / Trade Bodies must ensure that the MAI funding support is only provided to a member / participant company for a maximum of 3 (three) MAI events in a year.In the case of Exporters belonging to SC / ST / Women and the exporters having f.o.b. value of exports of or less than Rs. 50 crore in the preceding year, 5 participations in a year is allowed, provided each one of these is in different market (e.g. Africa, LAC , WANA, ASEAN etc)
3	For Participation in activities abroad, minimum 50 exhibitors / exporters are stipulated in a proposal, except in the case of some smaller sectors.	For Participation in activities abroad, minimum 50 exhibitors / exports are stipulated for consider in a proposal, except in the case of some smaller sectors.For new markets and new products/ services as also for niche sectors, proposals with less than 50 participants can also be considered.
4	Reimbursement of air-fare to exporting companies with an f.o.b. value of exports below Rs. 30 crores in the preceding financial year.Airfare individual ceiling maximum of Rs.70,000/- (Rs.1,00,000/- for American continents)	Reimbursement of air-fare to exporting companies with an f.o.b. value of exports below Rs. 50 crores in the preceding financial year. Airfare individual ceiling maximum of Rs.75,000/- (Rs.1,25,000/- for Africa and American continents)
4 (i)	Members to have completed 12 months of members and is regularly filing returns with the EPC (not applicable for any new EPC for a period of 5 years from date of creation)	Members to have completed 12 months of members and is regularly filing returns with the EPC (not applicable for any new EPC for a period of 5 years from date of creation) – NO CHANGE
4(ii)	Permissible only to the regular Director / Partner / Proprietor(not admissible to a foreign national)	Permissible only to the regular Director / Partner / Proprietor or a regular officer of the company on senior managerial position (not admissible to a Foreign National)
5	Reverse Buyer Seller Meets (RBSMs) –In RBSMs , one buyer per company / organization allowed for reimbursement of airfare and hotel expenses. Overseas buyers should not be related to Indian exporters registered with EPC/Trade body	Reverse Buyer Seller Meets (RBSMs) – In RBSMs, not more than 2 (two) buyers from a single company would be allowed for reimbursement of airfare and hotel expenses. Overseas buyers should not be related to Indian exporters registered with EPC/Trade body.