GeM procurement crosses ₹2 lakh crore on buying activity

Subject: Schemes

Section: S&T

Context:

The procurement of goods and services from the government portal GeM has crossed ₹2 lakh crore so far this fiscal due to higher buying activity by different ministries and departments.

What is GeM?

GeM facilitates online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organisations / PSUs.
The initiative was launched in August 2016, by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
The current version of GeM, i.e., GeM 3.0 was launched on January 26, 2018.
It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users, achieve the best value for their money and aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.

Significance:

GeM eliminates human interface in vendor registration, order placement and payment processing, thereby reducing delays and corruption.
It provides complete visibility of all transactions on its platform, ensuring fair and equal opportunity for all sellers.
It enables price comparison and selection of competitive and quality products.
It ensures compliance with standards and specifications for all its listed products and services and offers a user-friendly online feedback system.
It promotes innovation by providing opportunities for startups, MSMEs, women entrepreneurs and artisans to showcase their products and services.

Major Developments on GeM:

GeM Outlet Stores: GeM has launched outlet stores for various categories of products such as SARAS, Ajeevika, Tribes India, Startup Runway, Khadi India, India Handloom, India Handicraft, Divyangjan etc.
GeM-CII MoU: GeM has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to establish a GeM-CII Centre of Excellence (CoE), which will provide training, research and advocacy support to GeM.
GeM, CSC and India Post: The integration of India’s postal system India Post and Common Service Center (CSC) with the GeM is operational across the country. This allows India Post to provide logistics service into the remotest parts of the country to sellers and buyers transacting via GeM.
Bamboo Market Window: The National Bamboo Mission and GeM have created a dedicated window on the GeM portal for marketing Bamboo Goods.