The Government e-Marketplace (GeM), India’s National Public Procurement Portal under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, has entered into a strategic partnership with Common Service Centre e-Governance Services India Limited (CSC-SPV) to expand access to government procurement opportunities across the country, particularly in rural and underserved regions.

The partnership was formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 18 June 2026 at the GeM Office in New Delhi. The MoU marks a significant expansion of the GeM–CSC collaboration, building upon the partnership established in 2022. While the earlier MoU primarily focused on facilitating seller registration and profile creation, the new framework adopts a more comprehensive and outcome-oriented approach, supporting sellers through the onboarding process up to catalogue listing.

The expanded scope of collaboration includes facilitation for Vendor Assessment, Brand Approval, and Product and Service Catalogue creation and publication. These measures are aimed at helping sellers navigate key onboarding requirements more effectively, improving conversion from registration to active listing, and strengthening participation in government procurement, particularly from rural and semi-urban regions.

As a key feature of the partnership, 50 GeM Suvidha Kendras (GSKs) will be established initially on a pilot basis through the CSC network across select states, including Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and West Bengal. These centres will serve as dedicated facilitation hubs where sellers and service providers can access guidance, training, onboarding support and assistance related to GeM processes.

In addition to supporting awareness generation, registration, capacity building and grievance redressal, the GeM Suvidha Kendras will provide local-level handholding support to micro and small enterprises (MSEs), women entrepreneurs, SC/ST entrepreneurs, startups, artisans, weavers, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), local manufacturers and other emerging enterprises. The pilot initiative will be evaluated for expansion to other States and Union Territories based on outcomes and stakeholder feedback.

The earlier collaboration between GeM and CSC helped create a strong seller base, with approximately 5.3 lakh sellers completing registration and profile creation through the CSC network. Building on this success, the enhanced partnership seeks to strengthen GeM’s last-mile presence, improve onboarding outcomes, expand catalogue availability, and make public procurement more accessible, inclusive and user-friendly for enterprises across the country.

The MoU was signed by Additional Chief Executive Officer, GeM, Shri Ajit B. Chavan, and Senior Vice President, CSC-SPV, Shri Subodh Mishra.

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Abhijith Narayanan/ Ishita Biswas

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