Number of sellers on govt's e-commerce platform crosses 2.5 lakh

Over 2.5 lakh sellers and service providers have registered on the public procurement portal -- Government e-Marketplace (GeM) -- so far.

The portal was launched in August 2016 for online purchases of goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments as well as states.

According to GeM, 2,59,815 sellers and service providers have been registered with the portal so far to sell 11,12,524 products and 14,247 services.

The government has made it mandatory for all the departments and ministries to source goods and services from its e-marketplace.

The move is aimed at bringing in more transparency and streamlining the government procurement, which runs into lakhs of crores.

The portal provides wide ranging products, from office stationery to vehicles. Automobiles, computers and office furniture are currently the top product categories.

Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, web casting and analytical, among others, are listed on the portal.

Public procurement worth Rs 50,000 crore is expected to take place through GeM during 2019-20.

In 2018-19, GeM touched the Rs 17,325 crore mark in terms of value of transactions, compared to Rs 5,885 crore in the previous financial year and Rs 422 crore in 2016-17.

In the private sector, Flipkart has over 1 lakh registered sellers on its portal.