According to the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles, Mr. Piyush Goyal, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal would be operated and maintained by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest software exporter in India. An upgraded version of the portal was to be developed, and the government had earlier this year invited bids. TCS and Gurugram-based financial platform Intellect Design Arena were allegedly the two highest bidders.
Back in 2017, Intellect Design Arena and software company Infibeam were awarded the contract to design, develop, and maintain the GeM portal.
Additionally, Mr. Piyush Goyal emphasised the 10x increase in public procurement on GeM during the last three years. Launched in August 2016, the portal's cumulative gross merchandise value (GMV) reached US$ 48.75 billion (Rs. 4 lakh crore) in April of the current year. While it took the platform 1,771 days since its launch to attain US$ 12.18 billion (Rs. 1 lakh crore) in GMV, it only took 316 days to add another US$ 12.18 billion (Rs. 1 lakh crore) in GMV, bringing the total to US$ 24.37 billion (Rs. 2 lakh crore). In contrast, the GMV of US$ 36.55 billion (Rs. 3 lakh crore) and US$ 48.75 billion (Rs. 4 lakh crore) were reached in 234 days and 123 days, respectively.
Mr. Piyush Goyal stated that a new system is being developed at GeM, which will be more contemporary and modern with more elements for ease of operations. The minister added that data analytics will be offered in the new system to help the buyers and sellers in making decisions related to procurement. GeM currently caters to the procurement needs of over 69,000 government buyer organisations.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
