How to start exporting from India: the first ten steps

This guide is for first-time exporters of goods, whether you manufacture or trade, who want to know what to do and in what order. It covers the registrations, the checks before you accept an order, and what happens from shipment to payment, with links to fuller guides.

Before you start

You need a business with its own PAN (a proprietorship, partnership, LLP or company) and a current account with a bank that is an authorised dealer (AD) in foreign exchange. Most large banks are. Ask the branch early whether it handles export documents and inward remittances itself or sends them to a trade-finance hub, because that affects how quickly your documents move and your money arrives.

Keep the name, address, mobile number and email identical across PAN, GST, your bank and the DGFT portal. Small mismatches cause many first-shipment delays.

The first ten steps

1. Get your Importer Exporter Code (IEC). You apply online on the DGFT portal against your PAN and pay a fee of ₹500. Customs will not clear an export without an active IEC. You must update or confirm the IEC every year between April and June, or it is deactivated. See IEC: getting, updating and keeping your code active.
2. Register for GST and file a Letter of Undertaking. Exports are zero-rated. Most exporters file a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) in form GST RFD-11 on the GST portal for each financial year, export without paying IGST and then claim a refund of input tax credit. The other route is to pay IGST on the export and get it refunded through customs. See GST for exporters.
3. Classify your product. Find the 8-digit ITC(HS) code. It decides your product's export policy, the duty drawback and RoDTEP rates, your buyer's import duty and whether a trade agreement can lower it. Ask a licensed customs broker to confirm anything unusual, because a wrong code can lead to refused benefits and penalties.
4. Check the export policy and product rules. Look up your code in Schedule 2 of the ITC(HS) (the export policy). Most goods are "free", but some are restricted (you need an export authorisation from DGFT), prohibited, or allowed only through a state trading enterprise. Dual-use items fall under SCOMET. Some products also need registration with a specific body, such as APEDA for scheduled agricultural and processed food products, MPEDA for marine products or the Spices Board, or inspection by the Export Inspection Council for notified products. Then check the buyer country's rules on standards, labelling, certificates and import licences.
5. Join an export promotion council. A Registration-cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) from the council or commodity board for your product, or from FIEO if you export many products, is needed for Advance Authorisation, EPCG and most other DGFT benefits, and for subsidised trade fairs. You apply through the e-RCMC service on the DGFT portal. See RCMC: choosing your council, registering and renewing.
6. Get set up with customs. Register on ICEGATE with a Class 3 digital signature, then register your bank's AD code and the bank account that will receive duty drawback and IGST refunds. Do this before your first shipment. See AD code and ICEGATE.
7. Find and check your buyer. Check the country's risk rating, get a credit report on the buyer, and verify the company, its address and its bank details independently. If you plan to sell on credit, apply for an ECGC buyer credit limit before you ship. See Verifying an overseas buyer.
8. Price the order and agree terms in writing. Choose an Incoterms 2020 rule with a named place, and cost everything up to that point: freight, insurance, port and customs broker charges, bank charges, finance cost and currency movement. Choose payment terms that match the risk: advance, letter of credit, documents against payment or acceptance, or open account. Put the product specification, quantity, price, Incoterm, payment term, delivery date and required documents in a signed contract or accepted proforma invoice.
9. Arrange finance, insurance and logistics. Your bank can give packing credit against a confirmed order or LC. An ECGC policy protects you against the buyer or the buyer's country not paying. Insure the cargo if your Incoterm puts that on you. Appoint a freight forwarder and a licensed customs broker, and book space well before the goods are ready.
10. Ship, present documents and get paid. Your customs broker files the shipping bill on ICEGATE. After any examination, customs gives the Let Export Order, the goods sail and the shipping line files the export general manifest. You send the documents to the buyer or through the bank as the payment term requires. You must realise the full export value within the period RBI allows: from 1 October 2026 this is generally nine months from the date of shipment (12 months where the export is invoiced or settled in rupees). Once the money arrives, your bank reports it and an e-BRC is generated. Claim RoDTEP and drawback through the shipping bill.

What to renew and when

Common mistakes

• Shipping in a new financial year before the LUT for that year is filed, which leaves IGST payable on those exports.
• Using different invoice numbers in the GST return and the shipping bill, which blocks the IGST refund.
• Accepting open-account terms from a buyer you have never dealt with, without an ECGC buyer limit.
• Quoting CIF or DDP prices without firm freight and destination cost figures.
• Missing the April–June IEC update and finding the IEC deactivated when the goods are at the port.

Related on Exportsmitra

• HS Code Finder
• ECGC country risk ratings
• Export quote builder
• Export document checklist generator
• Choosing payment terms: advance, LC, DP, DA and open account

Sources

• Directorate General of Foreign Trade: common digital platform (IEC, e-RCMC, ITC(HS) export policy)
• DGFT: Foreign Trade Policy 2023 and Handbook of Procedures
• Goods and Services Tax Network: GST portal
• CBIC: ICEGATE customs portal
• Reserve Bank of India: FEMA notifications, including the Export and Import of Goods and Services Regulations, 2026
• Summary of RBI notification of 22 September 2026 amending the realisation period (secondary source)

Last checked 1 October 2026. Rules change: confirm with DGFT, your bank and your customs broker before you act.