It has been made mandatory for Central government departments to procure goods and services through GeM.
New Delhi: In the last two years, nearly 2 lakh vendors from across the country have got an opportunity to do business on the “Government e-Market” (GeM) portal.
Till November this year, they managed to receive contracts for providing goods and services worth Rs 14,874 crore to different government departments. This information is based on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s report on GeM.
According to the Ministry’s report, starting from 2016 till November this year, as many as 1.89 lakh individual vendors have been registered with the GeM from across the country. These venders were allotted tenders worth Rs 14,874 crore in two years to supply goods and services of common use in various government departments.
Functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the GeM is the national public procurement portal which offers an online, end-to-end solution for procurement of goods and services of common use by government departments. The GeM provides an open, inclusive, transparent and efficient online marketplace.
The GeM made it mandatory for Central government departments to procure goods and services through the GeM. The GeM was started by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government in 2016 to weed out intermediaries and agents from the government’s procurement system.
In all, 25 states and Union Territories have signed MoUs with the GeM to adopt it as the mandatory mode of procurement for their departments so far. “GeM deploys technology to completely automate procurement processes and systems, and introduce greater accountability in public procurement across India. In two years of its operations, GeM has recorded over 7.80 lakh transactions worth over Rs 14,874 crore and established itself as an open, transparent, efficient and inclusive platform providing huge savings to the government,” the report of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry reads.
Anyone doing business in any location in the country can get himself registered with the GeM portal and can directly sell his or her products such as table, chair, fan, air conditioner, carpet, and similar such articles and services of common use to government departments.
“The portal has nearly 30,000 buyer organisations (government) and about 1.89 lakh sellers and service providers. These sellers have offered more than 4.65 lakh products and services so far. The transparent procurement system and no involvement of middlemen have led to savings for the exchequer to the tune of approximately 20-25%,” the report cited above said. Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said, “Our ministry has given much priority to the GeM to ensure a transparent procurement system in government departments. The GeM has also provided the opportunity to the smaller segment of entrepreneurs to sell their products. This was earlier not possible due to the lack of transparency and presence of middlemen.”
“The ministry had also recently declared the GeM as a national mission. The aim of this mission is to promote inclusiveness by empowering various categories of sellers and service providers such as MSMEs, start-ups, domestic manufacturers, women entrepreneurs, and Self-Help Groups. It will also highlight the objective of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’. The mission also aims to give a boost to cashless, contactless, paperless transactions in line with the objectives of the Digital India mission,” the same official cited above said.