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Replying in the Lok Sabha on 12 August 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and IT reported that exports by units registered under the Software Technology Park (STP) Scheme reached an estimated ₹7,73,898.97 crore in FY 2025-26, up from ₹6,88,194.11 crore the previous year.
The number of STP units rose to 2,125 in FY 2025-26 from 2,042 in FY 2024-25, while investment reported by these units fell to an estimated ₹7,362.86 crore from ₹8,870.78 crore.
A parallel reply reported that Electronics Hardware Technology Park (EHTP) units grew to 79, with exports of an estimated ₹11,102 crore in FY 2025-26 — slightly below FY 2024-25's ₹11,443 crore.
Both are 100% export-oriented schemes administered by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) through a single-window clearance system; the EHTP Scheme has no fund allocation of its own and its fiscal benefits flow from the Foreign Trade Policy 2023.
Ease-of-doing-business measures listed include automation of SOFTEX filing, integration of STPI's online system with the RBI's Export Data Processing and Monitoring System, blanket annual import permissions replacing case-by-case approvals, and self-declaration in place of prior permission for Domestic Tariff Area sales.
Promote software and IT-enabled services exports from India
Key: A 100% export-oriented scheme with no minimum export turnover linked to location — a unit can be set up anywhere in the country. STPI provides statutory services under a single-window clearance system, including SOFTEX certification of software export declarations.
Promote exports of electronic hardware from India
Key: Also a 100% export-oriented scheme administered by STPI on a single-window basis. It carries no fund allocation; its incentives — duty-free import or procurement of capital goods, raw materials, components, consumables and spares, permitted Domestic Tariff Area sales and simplified customs procedures — flow from the Foreign Trade Policy 2023.
Boost exports and foreign exchange earnings by allowing export units outside a fixed geographic zone
Key: Introduced in 1981, it is the oldest of this family of schemes and the model on which STP and EHTP were built — units commit to exporting their output in exchange for duty-free inputs, without needing to locate inside a demarcated enclave.
Create duty-free enclaves treated as foreign territory for trade operations, duties and tariffs
Key: Unlike STP, EHTP and EOU units, an SEZ unit must be physically located inside a notified zone. This location requirement is the standing distinction examiners test between SEZs on one side and STP/EHTP/EOU on the other.
Support start-ups building software products, including embedded electronics, outside the metros
Key: A MeitY scheme implemented by STPI with a budgetary outlay of ₹95.03 crore over three years, focused on 12 Tier-II locations — Agartala, Bhilai, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Dehradun, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Mohali, Patna and Vijayawada. It targets 300 start-ups with seed funding of up to ₹25 lakh each.
Implements the STP and EHTP Schemes, provides single-window statutory clearances, certifies SOFTEX forms for software export declarations, and runs incubation programmes such as NGIS. Its service timelines are published in a Citizen's Charter.
The Export Data Processing and Monitoring System, to which STPI's online system now transmits export declaration data electronically in near real time, improving reconciliation of export proceeds and reducing manual compliance for IT/ITeS exporters.
A physical export leaves the country through a port and is captured by a shipping bill. Software transmitted over a data link crosses no customs frontier, so it needs a separate declaration — the SOFTEX form, certified by STPI, which records the value of software or IT-enabled services exported. That certified value then feeds the RBI's EDPMS so the central bank can track whether export proceeds are actually realised. The Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) is the mirror concept on the import side: it is the rest of India outside these export-oriented schemes, so when a duty-free STP or EHTP unit sells into the domestic market it is treated much like an import and needs permission. Replacing that prior permission with a self-declaration — except for advance DTA sales in a unit's first year — is the specific liberalisation announced here.
Simple Analogy: SOFTEX is the customs stamp for goods that never physically cross a border, and a DTA sale is a duty-free shop selling into the country it stands in — which is why it attracts scrutiny that an export does not.
| Aspect | STP and EHTP | SEZ |
|---|---|---|
| Governing instrument | Administrative schemes implemented by STPI, with fiscal benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy | The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and rules made under it |
| Location requirement | A unit may be located anywhere in India | The unit must be inside a notified zone |
| Administering body | Software Technology Parks of India, under MeitY | Development Commissioner of the zone, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry |
| Export obligation | 100% export-oriented, with permitted DTA sales | Required to be a net foreign exchange earner |
| What is covered here | Software and IT/ITeS (STP); electronic hardware (EHTP) | Multi-product and sector-specific zones alike |
EHTP incentives are not conferred by the scheme itself but by the FTP, which is why a question on 'the source of EHTP benefits' has a counter-intuitive answer.
Software and IT/ITeS exports are services receipts in the current account and are the largest offset to India's merchandise trade deficit — the ₹7.73 lakh crore figure is a component of that cushion.
STPI is not only a compliance body; through NGIS and its incubation centres it is one of the delivery arms for MeitY's software product policy in Tier-II cities.
The four measures listed — automated SOFTEX, EDPMS integration, blanket import permission and DTA self-declaration — are textbook examples of compliance reduction by substituting ex-post monitoring for ex-ante permission.
GS Paper 3 > Indian Economy > External Sector, Export Promotion and Industrial Policy
General Awareness > Trade, RBI Systems and Government Schemes
General Awareness > Economy and Institutions
General Awareness > Current Affairs
Export-promotion schemes and the SEZ-versus-EOU distinction appear regularly in Prelims and in banking general awareness; the STPI export figure is updated annually.
The declaration form, certified by STPI, through which software and IT/ITeS exports transmitted over data links are valued and reported.
The RBI's Export Data Processing and Monitoring System, which tracks export declarations against realisation of proceeds.
The part of India outside export-oriented schemes and SEZs; sales by a duty-free unit into the DTA are treated much like imports.
A scheme under which a unit commits its output to export in return for duty-free inputs, with limited permitted domestic sales.
Next Generation Incubation Scheme — MeitY's ₹95.03 crore software product incubation programme run by STPI across 12 Tier-II cities.