Since the launch of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal, it has been availed the most by ministries of defence and railways and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). They have been among the largest buyer organizations on the public procurement portal, a senior official said. In 2019-20, Gujarat is the second state to use GeM aggressively for its procurement needs, after Uttar Pradesh.

Government e-Marketplace portal was launched in August 2016 for online purchases of goods and services by all central government ministries, states and departments. GeM CEO Talleen Kumar said that they are introducing a range of software functionalities to address the unique and diverse procurement needs of these large buyers.

“These steps will enable these organizations to conduct their procurement with transparency, ease and efficiency to the fullest possible extent on the GeM platform. The volume of procurement conducted by the ministries of railways and defence and CPSEs has seen a steady upward trend since it was rolled out in 2016,” he told PTI.

The cumulative procurement by CPSEs as of January 15, 2021, stood at Rs 4,737 crore. “The cumulative order value of procurement by the defence ministry is Rs 8,232.6 crore (as of January 15, 2021) and is the highest among all ministries and state governments,” he added. Kumar said that the continuous engagement with the defence ministry and the development of new functionalities on the platform has yielded good results in this financial year.