Govt likely to interlink GeM, TReDS platforms for MSME financing

The Centre plans to integrate GeM with TReDS, enabling MSMEs to move seamlessly from government procurement to invoice financing and faster payments

The government is planning to interlink the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platforms so that users can access one through the other, enabling MSMEs to move seamlessly from procurement to invoice financing, a senior government official said. 

The move follows the Centre's recent decision to mandate settlement of invoices arising from government procurement from MSMEs through TReDS. 

"We are trying to integrate GeM and TReDS for a seamless flow. An enterprise should be able to apply for a tender, raise an invoice and obtain financing through TReDS. Those integrations are being envisaged," the official said.

 

GeM is the government's digital marketplace for procuring goods and services by Central and state government departments, public sector undertakings and other public entities. The portal offers over 10,500 product categories and 350 service categories. Under the public procurement policy, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) must source at least 25 per cent of their annual procurement from MSMEs.

 

TReDS, regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is an electronic platform that facilitates discounting of trade receivables for MSMEs supplying goods and services to large buyers, including CPSEs. Under the mechanism, an MSME uploads an accepted invoice on a TReDS platform and receives immediate payment from a financier at a discount instead of waiting for the buyer's payment. The financier subsequently collects the full invoice amount from the buyer on the due date.

 

MSMEs must be registered on the Udyam portal to access TReDS. The five RBI-authorised TReDS platforms — RXIL, M1xchange, Invoicemart, C2treds and DTX — discounted invoices worth ₹3.47 trillion in 2025-26, according to data from the MSME ministry.

 

Once the two platforms are interlinked, MSMEs are expected to execute procurement contracts on GeM, generate invoices and access invoice financing on TReDS without switching between platforms while awaiting payment.

 

Anil Bhardwaj, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises, said: "The integration of TReDS with GeM will help MSMEs access faster payments by enabling quicker invoice financing and reducing procedural delays in bill discounting, thereby improving their working capital."

 

The government also plans to scale up cash flow-based lending for MSMEs, the official said.

 

"Cash flow-based lending is something we are proposing at scale from the government side. Financialisation of already leveraged invoices is also on the cards," the official said.

 

To support this, the government is deepening data integration under the Account Aggregator framework. While GST data are already available through the framework, it plans to integrate GST returns as well to provide lenders with a more comprehensive picture of borrowers' cash flows.

 

"To give a complete overview of cash flows, we also need GST returns to be available through the Account Aggregator platform. We are working on integrating those returns with the Account Aggregator ecosystem and, in turn, with TReDS so that cash flow-based lending can happen," the official said.

 

(With inputs from Monika Yadav) 

Easing access 

• MSMEs can raise invoices and access financing without switching platforms
• Move follows mandatory TReDS settlement for government MSME procurement invoices
• Integration aims to speed up payments and improve cash flows to MSMEs
• GST returns to be integrated with Account Aggregator framework to deepen data integration 
• TReDS platforms discounted ₹3.47 trillion worth of MSME invoices in FY26