West Asia war: Why Indian exporters are using alternate routes

With the West Asia crisis continuing for nearly two months now, Indian exporters are trying to normalise their operations, and shipments are being sent via the longer route through the Cape of Good Hope.

According to industry sources, the route means an additional 12-15 days in terms of the duration as well as higher freight, but the objective is to keep shipments going.

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“The Red Sea route has been blocked for some time, and now, with the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, we are trying to keep the business going. Most exporters are using the longer route,” said an industry source, noting that there continue to be higher costs involved with this.
 
But higher costs, which have to be absorbed by them, remain a key concern for exporters, and they are also in talks with the commerce ministry to provide further relief measures.

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“Difficulties in trade have been going on for over a year now, since the US tariff measures were announced. Now we are grappling with the West Asia crisis and are trying to assess with buyers how much of the additional freight cost they would be willing to absorb,” said another source.
 
To help exporters facing problems due to the war, the commerce ministry had on March 19 launched the RELIEF package, which was a targeted intervention to support Indian exporters affected by freight escalation, insurance premiums, and war-related export risks arising from disruptions in the Gulf and wider West Asia maritime corridor. 
 
According to sources, exports in April have also been impacted by the ongoing war after March 2026, when goods exports fell 7.44% year-on-year to $38.92 billion from 42.05 billion in March 2025. India’s exports to West Asia also declined by 57.95% in March.