Srinagar, Apr 1: The Union Minister of Industries and Commerce, Piyush Goyal on Saturday said the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has revolutionised the ecosystem of public procurement in India with the use of technology, digitization of processes and the digital integration of all stakeholders during the last six years.
The Union Minister while addressing an online press conference from Mumbai said that GeM has effectively contributed to the government’s commitment to “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.”
“GeM is an example of how digital platforms created with a strategic and clear intent to reinvigorate and re-imagine legacy processes can bring about lasting change for the nation as well as the underserved,” he said.
Briefing about the success rate of the GeM portal, the Union Minister revealed that GeM was catering to the diverse procurement needs of over 67,000 government buyer organisations while the number of transactions on GeM has also crossed 1.47 crore.
“GeM has achieved a staggering Rs 2 lakh crore of Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) till March 2023 and has cumulatively surpassed Rs 3.9 lakh crore GMV since inception, with the overwhelming support of its stakeholders,” Goyal said.
Notably, GeM is an online platform for public procurement in India envisaged by the Prime Minister of India and was launched on August 9 of 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The portal was launched with the objective of creating an inclusive, efficient, and transparent platform for buyers and sellers to carry out procurement activities in a fair and competitive manner.
“The portal features over 11,700 product categories with over 32 lakh listed products, as well as over 280 service categories with more than 2.8 lakh service offerings,” the minister said.
The Union Minister further stated that based on various studies, the minimum savings on GeM has been recorded as 10 per cent which he said translates into a savings of Rs 40,000 crore worth of public money.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) GeM, PK Singh in his address to media persons said GeM has evolved as a trust-based platform where authentication of users is done through API integration with respective domain databases.
“The marketplace includes policies for automated market adjustments as well as end-to-end digital processes that support a thriving buyer-seller ecosystem,” he said.
He said that GeM has developed important functionalities like Push Button Procurement, Single Packet Bidding, and Annual Procurement Plan besides other functions, in consultation with its stakeholders.
“GeM has led to higher process efficiencies, better information sharing, improved transparency through automation and digitization of processes,” he said.