GeM crosses Rs 1 lakh crore GMV, PM Modi urges more Indian businesses to participate

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal on Tuesday crossed Rs 1 lakh crore Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) for the financial year 2022-23. CEO PK Singh expects the portal to exceed the target of Rs 1.5 lakh crore this financial year, ANI reported.

Praising the success, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a retweet to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that GeM is a game-changer when it comes to showcasing India’s entrepreneurial zeal and furthering transparency. 

“I laud all those who are displaying their products on this platform and urge others to do the same,” he added.

GeM, a dedicated e-market for goods and services procured by government organisations, departments, and PSUs, was started in 2016. The platform has over 54 lakh sellers, including the micro, small, and medium enterprises of India.

Goyal tweeted that Narendra Modi’s vision of democratised and transparent public procurement has created a platform that has emerged as a trusted partner for businesses, especially MSMEs. 

Talking to ANI, Singh also said, “If we see the number of transactions on global public e-procurement portals, GeM is number one but by value, it is number three after KONEPS of South Korea and GeBIZ of Singapore. 

He added that there are over 63,000 government buyer organisations in GeM and a majority of procurers are from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.

In 2019, the government also launched ‘Womaniya on GeM’, an initiative to enable women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups (WSHGs) to sell handicrafts and handloom, accessories, jute and coir products, home décor and office furnishings directly to government ministries, departments, and institutions. The move was made to spur hyper-local economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs and address goals and objectives under United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.