by Suman Gupta
In 2022–2023, Government e-Marketplace (GeM), which is a part of India’s booming online sector, exceeded Rs 2 lakh crore in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). While speaking at a press conference on the landmark achievement of GeM, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced that purchases of products and services through the government portal GeM have surpassed Rs 2 lakh crore.
“By bringing down costs and increasing efficiency, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has brought transparency and democratised government procurement of goods & services. GeM’s growth has created large-scale opportunities for several startups and MSMEs across the country,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet on March 31.
https://twitter.com/PiyushGoyal/status/1641762465544540165
Applauding GeM’s success, PM Modi tweeted, “Excellent! @GeM_India has given us a glimpse of the energy and enterprise of the people of India. It has ensured prosperity and better markets for many citizens.”
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1641754119214968835
The Union Minister praised GeM and its robust ecosystem of buyers and sellers, whose unwavering backing was essential to accomplish this unprecedented achievement. The Minister continued by saying that the Prime Minister wants the government agencies to operate with the utmost integrity and transparency, with participation from citizens in even the most remote regions of the nation, and by allowing women entrepreneurs, startups, and the MSME sector to participate fairly and equally in government procurements.
Following the launch of the GeM portal in 2017, business worth approximately Rs 400 crore was transacted. In the following year, GeM transacted business worth approximately Rs 5800 crore. According to the Minister, the business conducted through GeM increased from about Rs 35000 crore two years ago to Rs 1 lakh 6 thousand crore last year, resulting in a threefold increase. The Minister also noted that India’s total exports for the fiscal year 2022–2023 have surpassed 750 billion dollars, with the final number anticipated to exceed 765 billion dollars. GeM reported a startling $2 lakh crore in GMV as of March 31, 2023, and has surpassed 3.9 lakh crore since its inception, largely to the backing of its stakeholders. Additionally, 1.47 crore deals have now been completed on GeM.
“I am confident that GeM will grow faster, the future is very bright. I would like to appeal to more and more vendors to join GeM so that they too get a chance to participate in the government procurement process”, the Minister said.
GeM serves more than 67,000 government buyer organisations’ with varied procurement requirements. The portal offers more than 280 service categories with more than 2.8 lakh service offerings. It also has over 11,700 product categories with more than 32 lakh listed goods. According to different studies, the platform’s minimum savings are around 10%, which equates to a saving of 40,000 crore in terms of public funds.
