Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

The Government e Marketplace (or e-Marketplace) (GeM) is an online platform for public procurement in India. The initiative was launched on August 9, 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India with the objective to create an open and transparent procurement platform for government buyers. It was created in a record time of 5 months to facilitate the online procurement of goods and Services. The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorized and made mandatory by the Ministry of Finance by adding a new Rule No. 149 in the General Financial Rules, 2017.

The platform is owned by GeM SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) which is a 100 percent Government-owned, non-profit company under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India.

GeM is a contactless, paperless and cashless online marketplace that replaced the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) in 2016. Since its inception, GeM has brought in the visibility and transparency in public procurement. The portal has transformed public procurement in India by driving its three pillars, namely, inclusion, usability and transparency and efficiency and cost savings. According to an independent assessment made by the World Bank, average savings for buyers in Government e Marketplace portal is about 9.75% on the median price. The Government of India has made it mandatory for sellers to display the 'country of origin' on products to be sold on GeM portal.

The present Chief Executive Officer of Government e Marketplace is Sh. Prashant Kumar Singh, an IAS officer of 1993 batch of Manipur cadre.

History

The Government e-Marketplace was launched in August 2016 for online procurement of goods and services by central and state government organizations. The initial version of GeM portal was developed and hosted by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry with technical support of National E-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The present GeM Portal is developed and being maintained by a Managed Service Provider (MSP) led by Intellect Design Arena. It has partnered with various banks and ERP system of large buyers for payment services.

Objective

The platform aims to increase transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement along with inclusion. It provides all modes of procurement, viz., direct purchase, e-bidding, bidding with reverse e-auction and direct reverse auction. The digital platform enables economies of scale, efficient price discovery and dissemination of best practices. The procurement of goods and services by ministries or government departments has been made mandatory for Goods or Services available on GeM portal, as embodied in Rule 149 of the General Financial Rules, 2017. Public Sector Enterprises and State Governments are also encouraged to purchase from GeM.

Initiatives

• The Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare Shri Parshottam Rupala launched the dedicated web page for Bamboo products and quality planting materials on the GeM portal in June 2021. The page is referred as ‘The Green Gold Collection’.
• In order to help the proprietors, meet with large scale orders, GeM launched a Google Playstore App GeM SAHAY in June 2021 that helps the proprietors in getting loans against their purchase orders.
• As a part nationwide sustainability drive, GeM has announced new product category, Green Room Air Conditioners, on its portal. Launched on the World Environment Day in June 2021, GeM has onboarded sellers of Green ACs.
• GeM launched a dedicated page for COVID19 products in June 2021 that helped in meeting with emergency requirements of oxygen cylinders, concentrators, kits etc.
• GeM as a mark of inclusivity, its third pillar, opened the portal for onboarding specially abled sellers under its initiative ‘Divyangjan entrepreneurs’ in June 2021.
• The Unified Procurement System for goods and services was launched in October 2020 with the integration of the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) with GeM and the functionalities of the "GeM Availability Report and Past Transaction Summary" and "custom bids".
• In December 2019, GeM launched a two-month long national outreach program called GeM Samvaad to facilitate on-boarding of sellers while catering to specific requirements and procurement needs of buyers.
• GeM Start-up Runway was launched to facilitate startups in selling innovative products and services to government users in April 2019.
• In February 2019, GeM started an initiative called SWAYATT to promote Startups, Women and Youth Advantage through eTransactions on the Government e Marketplace portal. It was launched by Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation.
• On January 14, 2019, the Union Government launched an initiative called 'Womaniya on Government e Marketplace' that enables women entrepreneurs and Women Self-Help Groups to sell handicrafts, handloom, and accessories directly to Government departments.
• The National Mission on GeM (NMG) was launched on September 5, 2018 by Suresh Prabhu, the Commerce and Industry Minister to accelerate the adoption and use of GeM by major central ministries, states, UTs and their agencies, including CPSUs, PSUs, local bodies.

Financials

As of now (October 2022), it has crossed a transaction value of ₹321,030 crore As of September 2022, it has completed public procurement worth ₹305,528 crore (US$38 billion).

Statistics

As on 1 November 2022, GeM has 5,348,848 Sellers & Service Providers out of which 818,076 are MSE Sellers & service providers. Further, it has more than 46 lakh products in about 10,610 product categories, and it has 263 service categories.

Awards and recognition

• Government e-Marketplace was awarded the South Asia Procurement Innovation Award by the World Bank in 2016.
• In 2018, it was honoured with Digital India Platinum Award for 'Exemplary Online Service' by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• The platform was also nominated for the United Nations' ITU WSIS Prize.
• The company won The Hindu Business Line Changemaker Award for Digital Transformation in March 2020.