International Cooperation Scheme- Market Development Assistance

The scheme aims to build the Capacity of MSMEs for entering the export market by facilitating their participation in international exhibitions/ fairs/conferences/seminars/ buyer-seller meets abroad as well as providing them with actionable market intelligence and reimbursement of various costs involved in the export of goods and services.

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has launched this scheme.

Under the Scheme, the financial assistance is provided on reimbursement basis for airfare, space rent, freight charges, advertisement & publicity charges, entry/registration fee, etc.

State/Central Government Organisations/Institutions, Registered Industry/Enterprise Associations, Export Promotion Councils associated with promotion and development of MSME sector.

The applicant organization should be suitably registered under the relevant Act (i.e., companies under the Companies Act, Societies under the Societies Act, etc.) with the primary objective of promotion and development of MSMEs. | The applicant organization should have regular audited accounts for the past 3 years. | Events, for which financial support under the Scheme is sought, must be from the list of approved exhibitions/ events/ buyer-seller meets finalized by the Ministry of MSME in each financial year. | The organization must be engaged in such activities for at least the last 3 years and have a good track record.

The applicant organization cannot participate in more than 2 events in a financial year under the scheme.

The applicant organization will submit an online application for financial assistance, along with the relevant documents and the budget estimate of the expenditure on the proposed event in the proforma online giving full details of expenditure. (https://ic.msme.gov.in/IC_APP/IC_Welcome.aspx)

Grants under the Scheme will be released on basis of the following two categories: | I. Category A: Applicant Organisations having EPC Status and Organisations under the Ministry of MSME | a. All organisations having the status of Export Promotion Councils (Annexure-III) under the Foreign Trade Policy and Government Organisations of the Ministry of MSME namely- National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NIMSME) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialization (MGIRI) are eligible for drawing advance | b. 50% of the expected expenditure will be released as advances and the remaining 50% on submission of Utilisation Certificate (UC). | c. Advance grants, if any released, have to be refunded with interest in case of default in meeting the objectives and the conditions with which the funds were released. Repeat defaults in the submission of UCs will make EPCs/Organisations ineligible to receive assistance under this Scheme and will be considered for debarring from participating in the Scheme | II. Category B: Applicant Organisations with non-EPC Status | a. The total amount will be reimbursed after the event is over. | b. All other applicant organizations/associations involved in the promotion and development of MSMEs will submit claim documents for reimbursement of claims in the online proforma as uploaded on the IC Scheme Portal.