Public procurement of services from GeM portal may touch Rs 1.5 trn in FY23

Procurement of services from government portal GeM is expected to touch Rs 1.5 trillion this fiscal on account of an increase in buying activities by different ministries and departments, a senior official said on Wednesday.

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.

"Services procurement was just Rs 3,069 crore in 2019-20. It reached Rs 65,957 crore in 2022-23. This fiscal it is expected to reach Rs 1.50 lakh crore," GeM CEO P K Singh told reporters here.

He said that the top buyers of services included Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) like Coal India, NTPC Ltd and ONGC, and states and central ministries such as coal, power, defence and finance.

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

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.