Procurement through the Government e-Market (GeM) platform has led to a 20-30 per cent reduction in prices compared to before, Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.
The Central and State governments procure goods and services worth over Rs. 5 lakh crore annually, and the GeM could help in saving a considerable amount of tax-payers money, the Minister said at a national consultative workshop for States on Tuesday.
“If that is the quantum of taxpayers’ money being spent on procurement of goods for the government, there needs to be an open and transparent process and therefore bringing it on board a platform like this (GeM) is absolutely important,” she said. GeM was launched in August 2016 to serve as a dedicated e-market for different goods & services procured/sold by government/PSUs.
On Tuesday, five States and a union territory including Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh and Telangana inked MoUs with GeM for smart procurement of goods and services.
Through this agreement, the States would put in place a mechanism for smooth implementation of GeM framework.
The Minister said she was glad that GeM was being recognised as the national e-procurement portal. Most importantly, the sellers do not have to run from pillar to post to get their payment, which is made within 10 days of the delivery of goods.
Over 300 senior level officers handling procurement activities in state departments such as finance, treasuries, IT & e-governance, general admin, industry & commerce, women & child development (WCD), food, board of revenue and other departments that have major procurement activities are participating in the two-day workshop.
More than 250 major vendors on GeM are also expected to attend.
SOURCE: The Business Line