Government e Marketplace (GeM), the national public procurement portal offering end to end solution for all procurement needs of Central and State govt. departments and PSUs has closed the FY 2018-19 on a high note. The year witnessed a four-fold increase in total value of transactions on the portal and doubling of number of sellers in the marketplace. There has also been an overall growth in other dimensions like number of categories, products and buyers.Despite such phenomenal growth in transactions, average rejection rate of supplies remained below one percent, which is proof of high quality of products/services offered on the portal.

Significant Milestones achieved in FY 2018-19:

• Grossed over Rs. 23,000 crores in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) through more than 17 lakh transactions on the platform.
• Made over 8.8 lakh products available on its platform through a network of over 2 lakh sellers and service providers.
• These products and services are being bought by over 34,000 government organisations
• (Central, State Governments and PSUs) registered on the platform.
• 42% of transactions by volume are done with MSMEs registered on the platform.
• Buyers from across 36 States and Union Territories (UTs) are buying on the platform. 24 States and UTs have signed a formal MoU with GeM to adopt it as the core procurement portal in their respective territories.
• Average savings of more than 25% achieved across transactions on the platform.
• Integration with Aadhaar, UdyogAadhaar, Ministry of Corporate Affairs21 (MCA21), Public Financial Management System (PFMS), PAN, GSTN, Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), Railways, and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) empanelled rating agencies for robust registration process.
• Training of over 1.3 lakh buyers and sellers has been conducted across 28 States and UTs to enable them to seamlessly operate the platform.
• MoUs have been signed with 12 banks for payment integration (State GeM Pool Account-SGPA, Electronic Performance Bank Guarantee-ePBG, Electronic Earnest Money Deposit-eEMD) to facilitate a cashless, contactless and paperless paymentsystem on the platform.
• MoU signed with MSME Ministry, Common Service Centers (CSC) and industrial associations (CII, FICCI, AIMA, MAIT, FICCI, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, IIA and ASSOCHAM. for facilitating training, capacity building and on boarding of manufactures and vendors across the country.
• Integration with Quality Council of India (QCI) for ensuring quality compliances of the
• products and services offered through GeM.
• Traffic on GeM website has increased by 50% in FY 2018-19 Vs. 2017-18

During the year, GeM was awarded Digital India Platinum Award for ‘Exemplary Online Service’ by the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY). It was also nominated for the prestigious UN-ITU WSIS. GeM had taken up some special initiatives to spread awareness, train prospective users and promote inclusiveness in the marketplace. One such mega initiative was National Mission on GeM, organized during the months of September-October 2018. Launched on 5th September 2018, the Mission witnessed 315 capacity building exercises across 187 districts of 31 states/UTs.

Apart from the States, UT, Central Ministries and CPSU events, 18 dedicated theme-based events, which included technology architecture, services, credit facilities, legal framework, localization etc. were held to steer the future roadmap for GeM and strategize exponential growth.As a part of inclusive agenda, another special initiative was launched to enable Women Entrepreneurs and Women led Self Help Groups to showcase and sell their products on GeM. The initiative is aptly named as ‘Womaniya’.

Another programme like SWAYATT- an initiative to promote Start-ups, Women and Youth Advantage Through e-Transactions, was launched in February 2019.In association with Start -up India, GeM Start-up Runway has been initiated to facilitate Start-ups in selling innovative products and services to government buyers.

Since its inception on 9th August 2016,GeM has transformed public procurement in the country by leveraging technology and making procurement contactless, paperless, and cashless. GeM facilitates procurement at the right price, right quality and right quantity in a transparent and efficient manner. The platform reduces manual process inefficiencies and human interventions in procurement and enables increased coverage, access, and efficiency of faceless standardised public procurement.

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MM/ SB