Public procurement worth Rs 50,000 crore will take place through the Commerce Ministry’s online marketplace GeM during 2019-20, an official said.
In 2018-19, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) reached Rs 17,325 crore mark in terms of value of transactions as compared to Rs 5,885 crore in the previous financial year and Rs 422 crore in 2016-17. A official said that the targets are Rs 50,000 crore worth of transactions, which is to be carried out through this platform in 2019-20. The ministry launched the GeM on August 9, 2016 with the objective of creating an open and transparent procurement platform for government departments, ministries, and agencies.
GeM is an acronym for one stop Government e-Market Place hosted by DGS&D where common user goods and services can be procured. GeM is dynamic, self sustaining and user-friendly portal for making procurement by Government officers.
Public procurement forms a very important part of Government activity and reform in Public Procurement is one of the top priorities of the present Government. Government e-Marketplace is a very bold step of the Government with the aim to transform the way in which procurement of goods and services is done by the Government Ministries and Departments, Public Sector Undertakings and other apex autonomous bodies of the Central Government.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry, in a statement on Monday, said 2018-19 has witnessed a multifold increase in total value of transactions on the portal and doubling of number of sellers at the marketplace. It said over two lakh sellers are offering more than eight lakh products on this platform. It added that training of over 1.3 lakh buyers and sellers has been conducted across 28 states and Union Territories to enable them to operate the platform seamlessly.
The MoUs have been signed with 12 banks for payment integration to create a cashless and paperless payment system on the platform. Public procurement of the Central and State governments runs into over Rs 2 lakh crore annually.
