Government e-Marketplace | 29 Jun 2023

Why in News?

During the 'Kreta-Vikreta Gaurav Samman Samaroh 2023' event held in New Delhi, significant growth in procurement from the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) over the past three years, was highlighted.

What is GeM?

  • About:
    • GeM facilitates online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organisations / PSUs.
      • The initiative was launched in August 2016, by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
      • The current version of GeM, i.e., GeM 3.0 was launched on January 26, 2018.
    • It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users, achieve the best value for their money and aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.

Note: Public procurement refers to the process by which governments and state-owned enterprises purchase goods and services from the private sector.

Public procurement amounts to 15-20% of a India’s GDP and therefore an efficiently run public procurement process is critical to our nation’s economy.

  • GeM Statistics:
    • As of March 31, 2023, GeM recorded a staggering ₹2 lakh crore of Gross Merchandise Value (value of goods sold via customer-to-customer or e-commerce platforms) during FY 2022-23, contributing to a cumulative GMV of over ₹4.29 lakh crore since its inception.
    • The total number of transactions on GeM has also crossed 1.54 crore.
    • Studies indicate that the platform has generated minimum savings of about 10%, amounting to approximately ₹40,000 crore worth of public money.
  • Significance:
    • GeM eliminates human interface in vendor registration, order placement and payment processing, thereby reducing delays and corruption.
    • It provides complete visibility of all transactions on its platform, ensuring fair and equal opportunity for all sellers.
    • It enables price comparison and selection of competitive and quality products.
    • It ensures compliance with standards and specifications for all its listed products and services and offers a user-friendly online feedback system.
    • It promotes innovation by providing opportunities for startups, MSMEs, women entrepreneurs and artisans to showcase their products and services.
  • Major Developments on GeM:
    • GeM Outlet Stores: GeM has launched outlet stores for various categories of products such as SARAS, Ajeevika, Tribes India, Startup Runway, Khadi India, India Handloom, India Handicraft, Divyangjan etc.
    • GeM-CII MoU: GeM has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to establish a GeM-CII Centre of Excellence (CoE), which will provide training, research and advocacy support to GeM.
    • GeM, CSC and India Post: The integration of India’s postal system India Post and Common Service Center (CSC) with the GeM is operational across the country.
      • This allows India Post to provide logistics service into the remotest parts of the country to sellers and buyers transacting via GeM.
    • Bamboo Market Window: 
      • The National Bamboo Mission and GeM have created a dedicated window on the GeM portal for marketing Bamboo Goods.

Source: PIB