The government has initiated consultations with exporters to formulate a relief package aimed at addressing two interlinked problems: rising inland transportation costs and a shortage of shipping containers that has been worsened by the West Asia conflict . The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has sought detailed industry feedback to frame targeted measures, define eligibility criteria, and work out an implementation mechanism, according to sources cited by BusinessLine .
The container shortage has a clear causal chain rooted in the maritime disruption. The conflict in West Asia has disrupted shipping schedules and forced some vessels to take longer routes around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea and high-risk areas . Longer voyage times have delayed the return of empty containers to Indian ports, while congestion at transshipment hubs and disruptions in vessel schedules have further tightened availability . This is not a problem of demand collapse or supply chain failure in the conventional sense; it is a problem of equipment being tied up in transit for longer periods, reducing the effective fleet available to serve Indian exporters.
The timing is particularly challenging because export demand is strong. India's goods exports grew 23% year-on-year to $44.40 billion in September 2026, while cumulative merchandise exports during April–September rose 18.51% to $259.89 billion . Growth has been driven by electronic goods, engineering products, and petroleum products, all of which require container space and equipment to move cargo. When export volumes are rising and container availability is falling, the result is a squeeze that exporters feel directly.
The cost burden extends beyond ocean freight. Exporters have reported sharp freight hikes, erratic container availability, and higher depot handling charges, all of which have eroded profit margins and affected export competitiveness . Prolonged transit times and unexpected vessel blank sailings have further increased inventory holding costs at factory gates, tying up working capital that could otherwise be deployed in production . The relief package under consideration is therefore not limited to ocean freight subsidies; it is intended to address the landside logistics bottlenecks that accumulate before cargo even reaches a port.
The DGFT's approach appears to be focused on targeted rather than broad-based support. Officials are seeking specific recommendations on how to structure the measures and ensure smooth implementation across major manufacturing and export hubs . This reflects a recognition that a uniform subsidy without clear eligibility could miss the exporters under the greatest stress, while a narrowly designed measure could help offset the extra costs of moving goods from inland production centres to ports . The consultation process is intended to produce a workable design rather than a headline announcement.
For India's export sector, the relief package represents an acknowledgement that logistics costs have become a policy issue with direct implications for trade performance. The combination of overseas conflict, longer voyage times, and domestic freight inflation has exposed the vulnerability of export supply chains when both ocean and inland logistics tighten simultaneously . Any relief package will be judged less by its size than by whether it reduces friction in the parts of the chain that exporters cannot control.
Looking ahead, the key milestones are the conclusion of the consultation process, the finalisation of eligibility criteria and implementation mechanisms, and the rollout of the support measures. The government has not disclosed a timeline or a fiscal envelope, and the effectiveness of the package will depend on whether it reaches the exporters who need it most. For now, the consultations signal that the government is treating the logistics squeeze as a priority, and that the relief package is being designed with industry input rather than imposed from above.