MSMEs getting major business from public procurement portal GeM: Singh

Micro and small enterprises are getting major business from public procurement portal GeM and they are expected to sell goods and services worth over $ 20 billion by the end of this fiscal, a senior government official said on Monday.

The Government e-Market (GeM) portal was launched on August 9, 2016, for online purchases of goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments.

GeM CEO P K Singh said that the platform provides different support measures to these enterprises to increase their participation in government buying.

"Out of the total procurement of goods and services since 2016, 50 per cent are coming from micro and small enterprises," he said, adding in 2016-17, procurement from these firms stood at $ 5 million, which jumped to $ 5 billion in 2020-21 and this fiscal it "will be in excess of $ 20 billion".

He said that the portal provides business intelligence and data analytics services and information" to firms that are "correct, relevant and timely".

GeM has over 63,000 government buyer organisations and over 62 lakh sellers and service providers offering a wide range of products and services.

Total procurement of goods and services from the platform has crossed Rs 2 trillion so far this fiscal.

Currently, government departments, ministries, public sector units, state governments, and central armed police forces are allowed to carry out transactions through this portal.

The portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles. Automobiles, computers and office furniture are some of the major product categories.

Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, webcasting and analytical, are listed on the portal. South Korea's KONEPS is the largest such platform in the world.

Currently, GeM stands at the third position after Singapore's GeBIZ.