Government launches national mission on GeM to promote MSMEs, startups

The government on Wednesday launched the National Mission on Government eMarketplace (GeM), and said it will promote all sections of entrepreneurs, including MSMEs and startups.

Launching the national mission on GeM, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said the aim of the mission is to promote inclusiveness by empowering various categories of sellers and service providers such as MSMEs, startups, domestic manufacturers, women entrepreneurs and self-help groups. GeM is an online platform for the procurement of goods and services by the commerce ministry.

The minister added that in the next three years, the GeM transactions will reach $100 billion. Under the mission, the central and state governments, along with banks and PSUs, will undertake the national drive from September 6 to October 17, 2018, by organising workshops, roadshow, trainings, events and other information, education and communication activities, including buyer and seller registration.

The GeM portal has nearly 27 thousand buyer organisations registered and about 1.37 lakh sellers and service providers offering more than 4.65 lakh products and services for online purchase, and contributes to approximately 20-25 percent average overall savings to the government.

The mission also aims to give a boost to cashless, contactless and paperless transactions in line with the digital India objectives.