Government e-marketplace

Government e-marketplace
 

News: The Government e Marketplace (GeM) crossed a historic milestone at the end of 2022-23. Government
agencies purchased goods and services worth more than Rs 2 lakh crore.
 

About GeM:
 Government e Marketplace (GeM), created in a record time of five months, facilitates online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organisations / PSUs.
 GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement. It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse eauction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users, achieve the best value for their money.
 

What has changed since earlier system?
 Earlier the system was riddled with inefficiencies and corruption. Government procurement used to be opaque,
time-consuming, cumbersome, and prone to corruption and cartelization.
 Only a privileged few could break through huge entry barriers.
 Buyers had no choice but to purchase sub-standard goods at high, non-negotiable rates from the privileged suppliers.
 Potential sellers were completely at the mercy of the facilitating agency, to get empaneled, and then to get timely payments.
 In the new system, there is hardly any human interface in vendor registration, order placement and payment processing. At every step, SMS and e-mail notifications are sent to the buyer, the head of her organisation, paying authorities and sellers.
 The paperless, cashless and faceless GeM gives buyers the freedom to buy goods and services directly from unlimited sellers at competitive rates.
 The change in system goes in line with government’s vision of ‘minimum government and maximum governance.’
 

Some facts that may help:
 GeM is catering to diverse procurement needs of more than 67,000 government buyer organizations, which have together saved about Rs 40,000 crore. It gives equal opportunity to all buyers and sellers.
 About 60% of orders by value from states have gone to micro and small enterprises. States have also placed orders worth Rs 1,109 crore on startups. It demonstrates the ease of access for the relatively underprivileged business people.
 An independent study conducted by the World Bank and IIM Lucknow estimated an average 10% savings from the median price. The World Bank noted that with the addition of every new bidder, savings increased by 0. 55%.