New Delhi: The Centre’s Districts as Export Hubs (DEH) initiative to promote exports has expanded to cover more than 770 districts across the country, reflecting its expanding reach and stronger integration with overall export planning, according to a factsheet issued by the government on Wednesday.
The DEH framework aims to transform each of these districts into a centre of export planning by identifying products and services with global potential and connecting local producers to international markets. Rather than introducing a separate financial scheme, DEH leverages the funding available under various ongoing central and state schemes to build upon the One District One Product (ODOP) concept.
By unlocking district-level strengths and connecting them to international markets, DEH is driving employment generation, strengthening MSMEs and making India’s export growth more inclusive and globally competitive.
Exports have become a key engine of India’s growth story. Every rupee earned from overseas markets adds to jobs, incomes and industry at home. India’s total exports of goods and services touched an all-time high of $825.25 billion in 2024-25, growing further to an estimated $863.11 billion in 2025-26.
For decades, export activity stayed concentrated around a handful of established industrial clusters and port cities. Small towns, rural districts and remote regions rarely found their way into shipment manifests, even though many held unique, high-quality products. Products such as Bastar’s iron craft, Jalgaon’s bananas and Meghalaya’s Mandarin Oranges reflected this untapped strength.
Recognising this opportunity, the government brought in a district-led export strategy in the form of ‘Districts as Export Hubs’ Initiative, enabling every district to contribute to India’s export growth by leveraging its unique strengths.
A key responsibility of the District Export Promotion Committees (DEPCs) is preparing District Export Action Plans (DEAPs). These plans map products and services with export potential, assess infrastructure and logistics, identify export bottlenecks.
They also recommend interventions to improve competitiveness and market access. As of March 2026, draft DEAPs have been prepared for 590 districts, of which 249 stand formally adopted by the respective DEPCs.
DEH identifies export-worthy products and services across districts. These include GI-tagged products, agricultural clusters, and toy clusters and engineering goods, etc.
District-specific mapping helps prepare targeted export strategies. Some of the products with export potential include: Ceramic & Tiles, Potato from Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district, Bamboo Craft, Cashew from Jharkhand’s Jamtara district.
(IANS)
