GeM turns 10: Goyal unveils roadmap for AI-Driven, Inclusive Procurement Platform

New Delhi [India], 10 August : The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) marked its 10th Foundation Day on Monday with celebrations at Bharat Mandapam, where Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal called for a new, AI-enabled avatar of the platform to make public procurement more efficient, transparent and competitive, even as he felicitated top buyers and sellers who have driven the platform's growth over the past decade.
Addressing the gathering, Goyal outlined five key priorities to guide GeM's evolution over the coming years. These include strengthening last-mile access through GeM's Suvidha Kendras by expanding registration, cataloguing, training and grievance redressal across districts; deeper use of Artificial Intelligence for price intelligence, price sanity and marketplace integrity; integration of states, public enterprises, panchayats and cooperatives into a seamless national procurement ecosystem; scaling credit and sustainability initiatives through GeM Sahay and TReDS linkages; and university outreach to bring young innovators and new buyers onto the platform.
The event was also attended by Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, S Krishnan, and Secretary, Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, along with senior officials, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders who have been part of GeM's journey since its inception in 2016.
Launched on August 9, 2016, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GeM was conceived as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for technology-enabled, transparent governance. Over the past decade, it has evolved from a digital marketplace into a unified national procurement platform.
The numbers tell the story of that growth: GeM today counts more than 25 lakh sellers and over 1.37 lakh buyer organisations, having facilitated cumulative procurement worth over ₹20 lakh crore through more than 3.78 crore orders. Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) numbering 12.28 lakh on the platform have fulfilled orders worth more than Rs 9 lakh crore, accounting for 45.6 per cent of the platform's cumulative gross merchandise value. Women-led MSEs, over 2.24 lakh of them, have completed more than 50 lakh orders worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, while 42,242 startups have secured orders exceeding ₹65,633 crore.
A customised My Stamp was also launched to commemorate the milestone. The stamp recognises GeM's contribution to digital governance, Ease of Doing Business, promotion of Indian enterprises and inclusive economic growth, while symbolising its commitment to building a transparent, efficient and future-ready public procurement ecosystem aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat.
GeM also launched a dedicated nationwide five-digit short code "14550" for its Helpdesk. The new number provides a simple and recognisable communication identity for GeM and is virtually mapped to the existing Helpdesk infrastructure to ensure continuity of services. It will make it easier for buyers, sellers and other stakeholders to access support and identify official GeM communications
Welcoming the gathering, GeM CEO Mihir Kumar said the platform's true strength lay not just in scale. "What truly defines GeM is not only the scale we have achieved, but the spirit with which we continue to improve listening, refining and remaining responsive to the needs of those who use the platform," he said. The programme also featured a screening of a film documenting GeM's ten-year journey.
Speaking at the event, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said GeM's biggest achievement has been democratising India's government procurement ecosystem. He noted that 45 per cent of the platform's order value now goes to MSMEs, with more than half of all sellers on GeM belonging to the MSME category. He also highlighted the growing participation of women entrepreneurs, who account for 5 per cent of total order value, and over 50,000 startups now active on the platform.
Agrawal said the focus is now shifting to "GeM 2.0," a data-driven upgrade currently in development and expected to roll out over the next two to three months. "We need to use data to our advantage and see how we can use this data to actually educate our sellers and buyers of how GeM can give better outcomes," he said, adding that the long-term vision is to bring 100 per cent of government procurement across central ministries, PSUs and state governments onto the platform.
MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan underlined the importance of public procurement in supporting domestic industry while ensuring value for public money, drawing a parallel to how multilateral bodies like the World Bank and ADB track procurement outcomes in their project reports. He cited his own experience procuring vehicles through GeM at significantly lower costs than conventional channels as evidence of the platform's efficiency.
Krishnan noted that GeM's impact was reflected in the steady stream of stakeholders seeking greater inclusion in the platform. "Whenever I hear a complaint from somebody... the complaint is always, why am I not on GeM? Why can't I get onto GeM?" he said, adding that this demand for participation was itself a marker of the platform's success. He also pointed to GeM's growing international recognition, noting that it features prominently in over 50 bilateral agreements signed by MeitY with global partners.