The Mechanics · Explainer + Checklist
Five steps turn a sale into a legal export.
Exporting from India runs through a fixed sequence regardless of what you sell: register once with DGFT, document and clear each shipment through customs, treat the sale correctly under GST, and get paid in a way the Reserve Bank can see. This page walks that sequence in order and names the portals and forms involved — it stops short of quoting any rupee fee, tax rate or realisation deadline, because those move on the issuing authority's own schedule, not this page's.
01 — Before Your First Shipment
The IEC comes first, once.
An Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade is the baseline registration required before any import or export business in India.1 Since GST-era reforms, the IEC itself is issued against your PAN — you still apply for and receive IEC status through DGFT's own portal, holding a PAN does not automatically grant one.1 The application is filed online at dgft.gov.in, with supporting documents and bank details, and DGFT sets its own current fee at the time of application — this page does not quote a number that DGFT itself might change.
The code has lifetime validity once issued, but it is not a file-and-forget registration: DGFT requires every IEC holder to confirm their details online each year, in a window DGFT sets — for the FY 2025-26 cycle that window ran 1 April to 30 June 2026 — and an IEC that isn't confirmed in time is deactivated.1 Confirm the current year's exact window on the DGFT portal rather than assuming it repeats identically.
02 — Every Shipment
The document set, and ICEGATE.
Where the IEC is a one-time registration, this set repeats for every shipment. ICEGATE — the Indian Customs EDI Gateway, run by CBIC — is where the clearance actually happens.2
| Document | What it does | Where it's handled |
|---|---|---|
| IEC certificate | Proves you're a registered exporter — quoted on every subsequent filing | DGFT portal |
| AD Code registration | Links your bank's Authorised Dealer code to your port of export, required before a shipping bill can be filed | Registered with your bank, then submitted on ICEGATE |
| Commercial invoice & packing list | States what's being sold, to whom, for how much, and exactly what's in each package | Prepared by you; uploaded via e-Sanchit |
| Shipping bill | India's central export-clearance document — the basis for claiming Duty Drawback or RoDTEP and for banks tracking realisation under RBI's rules | Filed electronically on ICEGATE2 |
| Certificate of origin | States where the goods legally originate — needed to claim preferential duty under a trade agreement at the buyer's end | Issued by a designated agency (varies by scheme) |
| Bill of lading / airway bill | The carrier's transport document and receipt of goods — see the Mechanics ledger on the AFG Trade landing for what it does in the handover | Issued by the shipping line or airline |
The actual filing happens through e-Sanchit, ICEGATE's digital upload system — each supporting document gets a reference number that's linked to your shipping bill, replacing the physical paperwork exporters used to hand-carry to a customs office.2 A shipping bill's status moves through defined stages — filed, assessed, examined, then cleared for export — visible to you on the ICEGATE portal at every step.2
03 — The Tax Treatment
Exports are zero-rated. Prove it correctly.
Under GST, exports are a zero-rated supply — the tax isn't meant to travel with the goods.3 You reach that zero rating one of two ways: file a Letter of Undertaking (Form GST RFD-11) on the GST portal before shipping, and export without paying IGST at all; or pay IGST at the time of export and claim it back afterwards.3 Most exporters use the LUT route specifically because it avoids tying up working capital in a tax that's coming back anyway.
The LUT is not a one-time filing. It's furnished for a specific financial year, and the status of an approved LUT changes to "Expired" at the end of that year3 — treating it as filed-once-and-done is a real, common mistake. Filing is done online, needs the details of two witnesses, and (per the GST portal's own process) is deemed approved if the tax officer takes no action within three working days of submission.3
04 — Getting Paid, and Proving It
The bank's proof is the paperwork.
Once you're paid, your bank's confirmation is itself an export document. The electronic Bank Realisation Certificate (eBRC) — DGFT's digital successor to the paper Bank Realisation Certificate — is generated from your bank's own electronic inward remittance message and is required to claim incentive schemes and to close the matching entry in RBI's export-tracking system.4 DGFT matches the value on your shipping bill against the value realised on the eBRC before releasing any incentive tied to that shipment.4
Underneath the eBRC sits a regulatory clock: RBI sets, under FEMA, a maximum period for exporters to realise and repatriate export proceeds to India, and it revises that period from time to time.5 This page deliberately does not print a number of months here — the period changed more than once in the seven months before this page was written, moving between two different figures and with a further regulatory recast already scheduled. Check RBI's current Master Directions on Export of Goods and Services, or ask your bank's trade-finance desk, for the figure that applies to your export date.
05 — The Incentive Layer
Named here. Quantified nowhere.
DGFT's Foreign Trade Policy names several schemes that can apply to a qualifying export.1 Knowing a scheme exists is the first step to checking eligibility — the shelf below names the schemes; it prices none of them.
- RoDTEP
- Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products — a post-export scheme remitting certain embedded duties and taxes not otherwise refunded. Rates are product-specific and set by the government, not by this page.
- Duty Drawback
- A rebate of customs duties paid on inputs used to manufacture the exported goods, administered jointly with the Department of Revenue and claimed against your shipping bill.
- Advance Authorisation
- Permits duty-free import of inputs that are physically incorporated into an export product, subject to a corresponding export obligation.
- EPCG (Export Promotion Capital Goods)
- Permits duty-free or concessional import of capital goods for producing export goods, again against an export obligation over a set period.
- DFIA (Duty Free Import Authorisation)
- A transferable authorisation allowing duty-free import of inputs used in an export product, issued after export in some configurations.
Eligibility, current rates and the export-obligation conditions attached to each scheme are set out in DGFT's Foreign Trade Policy and its handbook of procedures — read the current version before assuming any scheme applies to your product.
06 — FAQ
Real questions, short answers.
Do I need an IEC to export even a small or occasional shipment?
Yes. An Importer-Exporter Code from DGFT is the baseline registration required before any import or export business in India, regardless of size or frequency, with only a short list of specific exemptions DGFT publishes separately.
Is the IEC a one-time registration?
The code itself has lifetime validity once issued, but it is not a file-and-forget registration — DGFT requires an online confirmation every year in a window it sets, and an IEC that isn't confirmed gets deactivated. Check the current year's window on the DGFT portal rather than assuming last year's dates.
Do I have to pay IGST on my exports?
Exports are a zero-rated supply under GST, and you have two lawful routes to that zero rating: file a Letter of Undertaking (Form GST RFD-11) on the GST portal before shipping and export without paying IGST, or pay IGST at the time of export and claim it back afterwards. Most exporters use the LUT route because it doesn't tie up working capital. The LUT is filed once per financial year, not once ever.
What's an eBRC and why does it matter?
The electronic Bank Realisation Certificate is DGFT's digital proof, generated from your bank's own electronic inward remittance message, that you actually received payment for an export. It's required to claim incentive schemes like RoDTEP and Duty Drawback and to close the corresponding entry in RBI's export-tracking system.
How long do I have to bring export proceeds back to India?
RBI sets a maximum period under FEMA for realising and repatriating export proceeds, and it revises that period from time to time — it changed twice in the seven months before this page was written. Because of that, this page does not print a specific number of months; check RBI's current Master Directions on Export of Goods and Services, or ask your bank, for the figure that applies to your shipment date.
What export incentive schemes exist, and how much are they worth?
DGFT's Foreign Trade Policy names several: RoDTEP, Duty Drawback, Advance Authorisation, the EPCG scheme and DFIA among them. This page names them because knowing they exist is the first step to checking eligibility — it does not quote a rate or benefit amount for any of them, because each is product- and shipment-specific and revised on DGFT's and CBIC's own schedule, not this page's.
07 — Sources
Where these facts come from
- Directorate General of Foreign Trade — Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) registration and the annual online-update requirement; Foreign Trade Policy 2023 (in force from 1 April 2023), naming RoDTEP, Duty Drawback, Advance Authorisation, EPCG and DFIA.dgft.gov.indgft.gov.in · FY2025-26 update window confirmed 1 Apr–30 Jun 2026 · accessed 25 Jul 2026
- CBIC / ICEGATE — the Indian Customs EDI Gateway: electronic shipping-bill filing, e-Sanchit digital document upload, and the filed→assessed→examined→cleared status flow.icegate.gov.inicegate.gov.in · accessed 25 Jul 2026
- GST Portal — official user guide, "Furnishing of Letter of Undertaking for Export of Goods or Services" (Form GST RFD-11): zero-rated export supply, LUT filed per financial year, deemed-approval within three working days, "Expired" status at financial year end.tutorial.gst.gov.in — LUT user guidetutorial.gst.gov.in · accessed 25 Jul 2026
- DGFT — Electronic Bank Realisation Certificate (eBRC): generated from banks' electronic inward remittance messages, required to claim export incentives and close the RBI-facing export entry.dgft.gov.in — eBRCdgft.gov.in · accessed 25 Jul 2026
- Reserve Bank of India — the FEMA framework setting and periodically revising the maximum period for realisation and repatriation of export proceeds (regulation amended more than once in the seven months before this page's publication). Cited for the mechanism, deliberately not for a specific current figure — see section 04.rbi.org.in — Notifications & Master Directionsrbi.org.in · accessed 25 Jul 2026
About this page: information, not legal, customs or tax advice. Every regulatory fact above is checked against the named official portal on the accessed date shown. Fees, tax rates, duty rates and the export-realisation time limit are named but not quantified, because each is revised by its issuing authority on a schedule this page cannot promise to track — always confirm the current figure at source before you rely on it.
The Line
Named the schemes. Not the numbers.
Fees, rates and deadlines belong to DGFT, CBIC and RBI, checked fresh on the day they matter — not to a page that can go stale.