Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

• Context (IE): Central Public Sector Enterprises procurement through Government e-Marketplace (GeM) surpasses INR 1 lakh crore in 6.5 months of FY 23-24.
• It is the Public Procurement Portal for procuring goods and services for all Central and State Government Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Units (PSUs), etc.
• It was launched in 2016 to bring transparency and efficiency to the government buying process.
• It is a 100 per cent GoI-owned company set up under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce.
• In 2017, GoI made it mandatory for all ministries to procure goods/services from the GeM.

Advantages of GeM

• Increased Public Savings: An independent assessment by the World Bank reported that GeM enabled an average savings of 9.75% on the median price between February 2019 and January 2020.
• Aatmanirbhar Bharat: In 2020, GeM made it mandatory for sellers to enter the Country of Origin while registering products on GeM to promote ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
• Enabling MSMEs to Scale Up: The portal allows MSMEs to scale up their business and increase sales.