Govt e-Marketplace will cross procurement of Rs 3 lakh cr this financial year: CEO PK Singh

New Delhi [India], September 4 : Procurement of goods and services from government portal GeM will cross Rs 3 lakh crore this financial year ending on March 31, 2024, said Chief Executive Officer of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) PK Singh in a media briefing.
Singh said that on August 23, GeM crossed the Gross Market Value (GMV) one lakh crore mark and if we compare it with the last corresponding period of last year It was 61,000 Crore on 31st August 2022. Since its inception, GeM has processed 1.67 crore plus orders worth more than Rs 5 lakh crore.
Singh said that more and more states are showing interest in procurement through GeM. States like Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra, MP, Assam, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu are too performers on GeM.
CEO said that the GeM office is based in Delhi but now the Board has approved the setting up of offices in major states for increasing regional footprint and tapping the State’s procurement. For major states, GeM, with support from local administration, is doing district-level buyer-seller workshops for penetration into the remotest layer of stakeholders, he said.
Public sector Banks like SBI and Canara Bank are giving procurement orders through the GeM platform. The order of 6750 ATMs worth Rs 557 crore by SBI is at the placement stage. SBI has also published a bid of 13500 ATMs worth Rs 7,039 crore and a 7500 Cash Recycler Machine worth Rs 1,300 crore is at the Financial stage. Canara Bank’s Core Banking Solution order of worth Rs 1,749 crore is at the placement stage.
Information Technology and Electronics Department, Uttar Pradesh, has floated a bid worth INR 2,493 crore for 25 lakh smartphones for distribution among the state's youth.
Singh said that GeM is also adopting augmented reality. GeM has partnered with a third party to create QR codes for 300 products for the pilot phase.
Buyers will be able to scan QR codes on the GeM website and view 3D models of objects in AR through their mobile devices. The first set of 50 categories is to be demonstrated by 15th September. Augmented reality will allow users to scale, zoom, pan, and place objects in their camera view. GeM will Implement a comparison feature that enables users to compare two objects in AR.
GeM is also in various stages of building 19 AI and ML-enabled use cases for guiding the buyer’s decision and enabling data- and insights-driven procurement.
TCS has been awarded the contract for re-platforming and maintaining the operations of the GeM portal. The current contract is due to expire on December 14, 2023.