Govt e-marketplace surpasses 1 lakh crore of procurement in single fiscal year

VIJAYAWADA: The online government e-marketplace (GeM) for smart public procurement has come up with new features, steadily growing with new products and service categories being added, said Commodore Balbir Munjal, VSM (Retd), defence adviser, GeM.

Addressing the ‘Seller Samvad’ on Friday, Balbir Munjal said GeM is a one-stop procurement portal for all government entities, including central/state ministries, departments & PSUs.

He said a Seller Samvad is being organised across the country by the ministry of commerce and industry to increase the participation of sellers offering products and services. This was launched on August 9, 2016 as part of the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Special provisions have been created on the GeM portal to ensure a seamless onboarding experience for MSMEs and SHGs, Munjal said, adding that as high as 61.000 registered government buyers and 48.6 lakh sellers and service providers speak for the size and scale of the GeM operations.

Currently, there are about 300 service categories and over 10000+ product categories on GeM. These feature around 44 lakhs catalogues of product and service offerings. Since its beginning in 2016, GeM is evolving and relentlessly working towards adding new features and functionalities to the portal. Approximately 2,000 minor and 460 plus major functionalities have been introduced in the last 24 months.

Commodore Munjal said GeM has surpassed the milestone of Rs 1 lakh crore of procurement value, in the last fiscal year. Cumulatively, GeM has facilitated over 1 crore transactions valued at over Rs 2.82 lakh crore.

Starting from the big companies and conglomerates, the seller base includes women entrepreneurs, self help groups, and MSME sellers from all over the country.