India’s public procurement portal Government e-marketplace (GeM) witnessed a record four-fold increase in transactions in a single year, with gross merchandise value (GMV) crossing Rs 23,000 crores in 2018-19.

“The year witnessed a four-fold increase in total value of transactions on the portal and doubling of the number of sellers in the marketplace. There has also been an overall growth in other dimensions like the number of categories, products and buyers,” said a government release.

“Despite such phenomenal growth in transactions, the average rejection rate of supplies remained below one per cent, which is proof of the high quality of products/services offered on the portal,” the release added.

The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched GeM in 2016 to facilitate online procurement of common-use goods & services required by various Government Departments / Organisations / PSUs.

Presently, over 8.8 lakh products are available on the platform through a network of over 2 lakh sellers and service providers. These products and services are bought by over 34,000 government organisation (central, state governments and PSUs) spread across 36 states and union territories (UTs).

It is also interesting to note that MSMEs registered on the platform account for 42 per cent of all transactions by volume. “Average savings of more than 25% achieved across transactions on the platform.”

Transparency, Efficiency And Speed

“Since (it’s launch) this Business to Government (B2G) platform, has eliminated multiple levels of manual, sequential verification and decision-making, leading to dramatic reductions in lead-time in government procurement," says a World Bank (WB) blog on the same.

"For suppliers, too, this has opened attractive new options by eliminating intermediaries and guaranteeing prompt release of payment," WB added.

Also Read: From A 10% To A 10x Government: A Historical Review Of Public Administration In India

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