The e-Marketplace of Government of India (GeM) has surpassed the milestone of Rs.1 lakh crore of procurement value in a single financial year i.e. 2021-22 and has steadily been growing with new product and service categories, GeM adviser (defence) Commodore (retired) Balbir Munjal has said.
Addressing a ‘Seller Samvad’ held at the office of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) here on Friday, Mr. Munjal said the GeM was a one-stop procurement portal for all government buyers, including Central/State Ministries, PSUs and departments. GeM brought about a radical change in the way procurement was done by government buyers and public sector undertakings.
“It is contactless, paperless, and cashless and stands on three pillars viz. efficiency, transparency, and inclusivity,” he observed and asserted that the heterogeneous nature of GeM’s seller base reflected the founding pillar of inclusivity.
Mr. Munjal further said GeM facilitated more than a crore transactions valued at over Rs.2.82 lakh crore cumulatively and stated that the large number of registered government buyers (61,000) and 48.60 lakh sellers and service providers spoke for the size and scale of its operations.
Roughly 2,000 minor and 460-plus major functionalities had been introduced in the GeM in the last 24 months, Mr. Munjal added.