Public procurement forms an essential part of government activity and is one of the top priorities of the government. To transform how procurement of goods and services is done by the Ministries and Departments, Public Sector Undertakings and other apex autonomous bodies of the Central Government, the government took a bold step and initiated Government e-Marketplace.  

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) for MSMEs has been revolutionary in India’s public procurement, with more than 18 lakh MSME sellers listed across over 35.83 lakh products and 179 service categories as of June 2021. The seller count has doubled from 9.44 lakh as of January 2021, reiterating the surging popularity among small businesses. Providing tools like e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation creates favorable conditions for stakeholders involved. This is why GeM has become the largest e-commerce marketplace in the country.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal recently stated that the center will use AI to improve the Government e-Marketplace procurement process. He was speaking in the conclave on the public Procurement Order 2017. The Public Procurement Order 2017 provides manufacturers and service providers with a fair opportunity of selling their ingenious products and services to the government during the public procurement process. 

What is GeM? 

GeM or Government e-Marketplace is a completely paperless, cashless and system-driven e-marketplace that enables procurement of everyday use goods and services with minimal human interface. GeM offers a wide variety of advantages for buyers and sellers. It eliminates human interface in vendor registration, order placement and payment processing to a great extent.

GeM is an open platform that offers no entry barriers to bonafide suppliers who wish to do business with the government. At every step, an SMS and e-Mail notification are sent to buyers, their head of the organization, paying authorities, and sellers. Furthermore, online, cashless, time-bound payment on GeM is facilitated through integration with PFMS and the state Bank Multi Option System.  

AI in GeM 

According to the Minister, AI will make the process more effective and transparent. He also asked for industry cooperation to achieve the aim. The commerce and industry minister also asked the stakeholders to inform about any harassment they face. He assured them that such issues would be addressed without any bias. 

The conclave was dedicated to finding measures to streamline the public procurement order 2017 under the center's ‘Make in India’ initiative to strengthen the domestic industry. The Public Procurement Order 2017 provides manufacturers and service providers with a fair opportunity of selling their indigenous products and services to the government during the public procurement process.  

Process of procurement 

Emphasizing the government’s stand on easing the public procurement process, the Minister has remarked that their TRP in procurement is Trust, Reliability and Prosperity. However, procurement also faces several loopholes regarding the wrong declaration of domestically produced products. In such cases, Goyal urged the industry to play the whistleblower role and immediately report such wrongdoings. Such practices would ensure a transparent environment during the procurement process. This will ultimately help in achieving the aim of boosting domestically made goods and services.