GeM is a digital tool in the national interest: Goyal

NEW DELHI: In the financial year 2022-2023, procurement of goods and services from government portal Government e Marketplace (GeM) has crossed the ₹2 lakh crore mark, which is a remarkable achievement, said union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday.

The minister highlighted the role of GeM as a digital tool in the public and national interest. GeM is a symbol of the speed with which PM Narendra Modi has taken the country forward through modern technology, said the minister.

Goyal also congratulated GeM and its strong ecosystem of buyers and sellers, whose unwavering support has been pivotal towards achieving this historic feat.

The minister added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi desires that the government departments run at the highest levels of integrity and transparency, with the participation of people from the remotest corners of the country and enable women entrepreneurs, startups and the MSME sector to participate in a fair and equitable manner in government procurements.

After the GeM portal was launched in 2017, business worth about ₹400 crore was done, and in the second year, GeM did business of about ₹5,800 crore. The business through GeM has grown from around ₹35,000 crore two years ago and tripled last year to ₹1 lakh 6 thousand crores, the minister informed.

The portal features over 11,700 product categories with more than 32 lakh listed products, as well as over 280 service categories with more than 2.8 lakh service offerings. Based on various studies, the minimum savings on the platform are about 10%, which translates into a savings of ~ ₹ 40,000 crore worth of public money.

Goyal also mentioned that India has crossed total exports of 750 billion dollars for the financial year 2022-23 and the final figure is expected to cross 765 billion dollars.

Speaking about the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 released in New Delhi yesterday, he said that this has been welcomed by industry and trade. “A sense of stability is reflected in the foreign trade policy,” he added.