DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade)

The Ministry of Commerce arm that issues IECs, administers export incentive schemes, and maintains the caution list of defaulting exporters.

Definition

DGFT — Directorate General of Foreign Trade — is the department under India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry responsible for implementing the Foreign Trade Policy. DGFT issues IECs, administers export incentive schemes (RoDTEP, RoSCTL, Advance Authorisation, EPCG), and receives caution-list flags from RBI.

What DGFT does for exporters

• Issues and manages IEC
• Runs export incentive schemes and processes benefit claims via dgft.gov.in
• Receives eBRC uploads from AD Banks
• Enforces caution-listing on IECs that fail EDPMS closure
• Publishes the Foreign Trade Policy (currently FTP 2023)

The DGFT portal

The single-window dgft.gov.in handles IEC updates, RoDTEP scrip issuance, LUT-adjacent filings for star exporters, and Advance Authorisation applications. It's the counterpart to ICEGATE — one covers customs filings, the other covers trade policy and scheme benefits.

For Indian FBA exporters

The two most common DGFT touchpoints:

1. Annual IEC update (introduced 2021) — required to keep your IEC active. Takes 2 minutes.
2. RoDTEP scrip claims — filed automatically against eBRCs uploaded by your AD Bank; scrips are transferable and can be monetized.

If your IEC ever gets caution-listed, DGFT is where the block is enforced (customs then blocks all new shipping bill filings). Prevention beats cure — see the real cost of an unclosed EDPMS shipping bill.

XPortKnock home · Blog · Start free trial