In a bid to provide a much-required boost to exports, the union Government on Wednesday extended interest relief for exporters and announced a number of incentives.

The 2% interest subvention scheme has been extended for one more year. The scheme was to expire in March 2013.

The Government also decided to cover more sectors under the interest subvention scheme. Exporters of engineering goods will be one of the major beneficiaries of the decision.

In addition, merchandise exports to the United States, European Union and the Asian markets will also qualify for additional incentives. Exporters are facing a demand slowdown in these markets. Eritrea has got a place among the Special Focus Market Scheme; while five new countries, viz. Bulgaria, Latvia, New Zealand, Cayman Islands and Lithuania, have been added under the Focus Market Scheme.

Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the slew of incentives should be able to provide a boost to Indian exports in the final three months of this financial year.

Announcing new incentives, Mr. Sharma said, "With these measures, we should be able to give a push to our exports in the last quarter of this financial year. The objective is to stabilise the situation and try and move from the negative territory to positive".

Speaking on the topic, he expressed hope that the new measures would help the country in hacking the escalating trade deficit, which reached $175.5 billion in the January to November period.