New Delhi : In a significant development for India’s digital economy, the state-run Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is poised to become the world’s largest e-commerce portal for public procurement.
According to official projections, GeM is expected to surpass Rs 6 lakh crore in sales volume during the 2024-25 fiscal year, overtaking the current leader, Korea’s ON-line E-Procurement System (KONEPS).
GeM CEO Prashant Kumar Singh reported that the platform has already achieved a gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs 1.65 lakh crore in the current fiscal year, compared to Rs 4 lakh crore for the entire 2023-24 period.
The first quarter alone saw procurement worth Rs 1,24,761 crore, with services accounting for Rs 80,502 crore – a significant jump from Rs 18,557 crore in Q1 of the previous year.
“Driven by services, we expect to close the current financial year at around Rs 6 lakh crore. At this pace, we would soon become the world’s largest online public procurement platform,” Singh stated. GeM has already surpassed Singapore’s GeBIZ to claim the second spot globally.
The platform’s ambitious growth plans include two major initiatives slated for implementation within the first 100 days of the new NDA government. First, GeM aims to introduce an online bidding system for civil works contracts, pending cabinet approval.
This move would expand GeM’s offerings beyond goods and services, aligning it more closely with KONEPS’ comprehensive model.
“The addition of civil works in GeM would expand its scope, enhance transparency in the award of public civil contracts, eliminate possibilities of corruption and fix responsibilities for delays in completion of public projects,” an unnamed government official explained. The initiative will initially focus on smaller projects such as government buildings, pavements, and drainage systems.
The second major development is the launch of the ‘GeM SAHAYAK’ program, which aims to train and certify 5,000 individuals to provide expertise to buyers and sellers using the platform.
“GeM Sahayaks will offer their services to potential and existing users in navigating processes in the portal and help them in proper cataloguing to enhance the value proposition for them,” Singh elaborated.
These experts will be strategically placed across key pin codes throughout the country, with plans to potentially double their numbers in the future.
Currently, GeM boasts over 150,000 government buyers and more than 6.2 million sellers, offering a wide range of goods and services.
The platform’s success is partly attributed to the mandatory requirement for government entities to procure through GeM, fostering a robust ecosystem for public-private partnerships and supporting MSMEs.
