Government e-Marketplace (GeM) : Daily Current Affairs

Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

CONTEXT:

The Commerce Secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam released a statement saying that the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) system has resulted in a 10% savings in public procurement costs in five years, but has still tapped only 5% of India’s total government purchases of about ₹20 lakh crore a year.

FOR PRELIMS:

The system maintained savings of ₹10,000 crore in the cumulative procurements of ₹1 lakh crore facilitated through the portal in five years.
Improved the speed of procurement.
56% of the order value processed through the portal has been delivered by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

About GeM:

Developed by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D).
Aims to ensure that public procurement of goods and services in India worth more than Rs. 5 lakh crore annually is carried out through the online platform.
It promotes transparency and eliminates corruption.
The main impacts produced are:

Relieves public offices from tedious and time consuming tendering process.

Cuts down on administrative and transaction costs.

Helps in online registration of suppliers and government buyers using self certification and authentication through Aadhar, PAN, MCA21 and Biometric Attendance System.

Also facilitates seamless process flow and standardised specifications with complete audit trail.

It promotes the spirit of cooperative federalism.

Sources