In recent events, esteemed growth in procurement over the past three years was cited at the ‘Kreta-Vikreta Gaurav Samman Samaroh 2023’ held in New Delhi. The main focus was on the soaring procurement from the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
Understanding GeM
GeM is an online procurement platform for common goods and services demanded by various Indian Government Departments, Organisations, and Public Sector Undertakings (PSU). The initiative was commenced in August 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. The current version of GeM, called GeM 3.0, came into existence on January 26, 2018. It provides e-bidding, reverse e-auction, and demand aggregation tools to assist government users in obtaining the best value for their money. GeM also aims to enhance transparency, speed, and efficiency in public procurement.
It’s noteworthy to mention that public procurement signifies the process where governments and state-owned enterprises purchase goods and services from the private sector. An efficiently run public procurement process is central to the country’s economy, given that it constitutes about 15-20% of India’s GDP.
GeM Growth Statistics
As of March 31, 2023, GeM recorded a gross merchandise value (the value of goods sold via e-commerce platforms or customer-to-customer) of ₹2 lakh crore during the financial year 2022-23. This has contributed to a cumulative GMV of over ₹4.29 lakh crore since its inception. The total number of transactions on GeM has crossed 1.54 crore. Moreover, studies suggest that GeM has led to a minimum savings of about 10%, implying savings of roughly ₹40,000 crore worth of public money.
Significance of GeM
GeM effectively eliminates human interference in vendor registration, order placement, and payment processing, reducing corruption and delays. It offers complete transparency of all transactions, ensuring fair opportunity for every seller. Further, it facilitates price comparison, selection of competitive products, and adherence to standards for all its listed products and services. The platform also provides an easy-to-use online feedback system.
In essence, GeM fosters innovation by allowing startups, MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, and artisans to showcase their products and services.
Major Developments on GeM
Recent developments include the launch of GeM Outlet Stores featuring various product categories such as SARAS, Ajeevika, Tribes India, Startup Runway, Khadi India, India Handloom, India Handicraft, Divyangjan among others.
Moreover, GeM has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to institute a GeM-CII Centre of Excellence (CoE). This will provide training, research, and advocacy support to GeM.
The integration of India’s postal system India Post and Common Service Center (CSC) with GeM is functional nationwide, enabling India Post to offer logistics service even to the remote corners of the country for transactions made via GeM.
Furthermore, the National Bamboo Mission and GeM have collaboratively created a dedicated window on the GeM portal for marketing Bamboo Goods.
