Parul
Government e-Marketplace (GeM) vendors shared their experiences in GeM Seller Samvad held in Mumbai on September 19, 2022. This allowed the GeM sellers to learn about the new GeM features and functionalities that further make it conducive for them to operate on the portal.
“My volume of business has increased ever since I registered in GeM in 2017. Earlier, I could supply items only in the vicinity of my shop in the Fort area and only within Mumbai. Now, I ship my products all over the country! I have tied up with India Post and three private courier service providers who pick up items from my shop and deliver in due time”, says Hitesh Patel, Proprietor of Milan Stationers and Printers, a firm registered with GeM.
GeM’s Business Facilitator for Maharashtra and Daman and Diu Nikhil Patil informed that the GeM portal is not only limited to central government offices. It provides a one-stop online procurement portal for all government buyers including central/state ministries, departments, bodies & PSUs.
All states (except Sikkim) have entered an MoU with GeM, thereby facilitating businesses from all around the country to do business with government departments located all over India, even in remote corners. Maharashtra state agreed with GeM in March 2018, and informed Nikhil Patil.
Patil highlighted that SMEs, especially sole proprietors on Government e-Marketplace can now get a loan at the point of acceptance of an order on the GeM platform. Approximately 2,000 minor and 460 plus major functionalities have been introduced on GeM, in the last 24 months for increasing the ease of doing business.
Ketan Choudhary, who represents MSME firm Omkar Enterprise stated that GeM has helped their business to grow. They registered with GeM in the year 2020 and started selling printers and toners. Now, they are selling computers and laptops also! “GeM helps small businesses like ours to grow”, he commented.
Also Read: Govt expands GeM, Cooperatives can now procure goods through GeM too
Significantly GeM has surpassed the milestone of Rs. 1 lakh crore of procurement value, in a single fiscal year in FY 21-22. Since its inception, GeM has facilitated over 1 crore transactions valued at over Rs. 3.02 lakh crore. Around 62 thousand registered government buyers and 50.90 lakh sellers and service providers speak for the size and scale of GeM operations.
Currently, there are about 300 service categories and over 10,000 product categories available on GeM. These categories feature around 44 lakhs catalogues of product and service offerings.
