Overview:

The Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India launched the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to transform the procurement process of goods and services across the departments/ ministries/PSUs, autonomous bodies etc. The GeM portal is completely paperless, cashless and technology- driven e-marketplace which enables procurement with minimal human interface.

The idea behind GeM is to ensure greater standardisation and transparency in Government procurements and provide a facilitating platform for the benefit of both sellers and buyers.

GeM is a technology driven platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various Ministries and agencies of the Government. The portal was launched on August 9, 2016 and became fully functional by October, 2016.

GeM - a scalable system and being completely online, transparent, and system driven, makes procurement of goods and services, easy, efficient and fast. GeM covers entire procurement process chain, right from vendor registration, item selection by buyer, Supply order generation, and receipt of goods/services by the consignees (s), to online payment to vendor.

The GeM platform is a one stop shop and helps in vendor registration, order placement and payment processing with minimum human intervention. On the portal, users need to register first using their mobile numbers and biometric IDs prior using the service. It offers many features like standardised procurement process for buyers and sellers, powerful search engine, real-time price comparison, ratings for buyers and sellers and automated exemption for Automation of exemptions provided for MSMEs and startups via integration with Udyog Aadhar/DIPP. GeM has also aligned with the Quality Council of India to ensure quality compliance of products and services offered through GeM.

Impact:

• As on August 2018, 25,000 Government organisations had been registered with GeM and 24 states and UTs had signed an MoU with GeM to make the platform their core portal for procurement.
• GeM had grossed around Rs 10,000 crores over two years in terms of Gross Merchandise Value through more than 6.16 lakh transactions. Now over 40% of transactions by volume have been done by MSMEs who are registered on the platform.
• The initiative has been welcomed by all stakeholders for enhancing ease of doing business with the Government, and has received strong traction. The portal has improved transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.

References:

https://gem.gov.in/

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=181660

Last updated: August, 2018