Table of Contents
What has happened?
- Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has attained an annual procurement of Rs 1 Lakh crore in the current financial year,
- On account of sharp increase in buying activities by different ministries and departments, Prashant Kumar Singh, CEO, GeM, said on Thursday.
- Earlier the portal has crossed 1 lakh crore mark in about four and half years but now this was achieved during the current fiscal.
- This represents a 160 per cent growth compared to the last financial year.
What is GeM portal?
- Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a one stop portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs.
- The initiative was launched on August 9, 2016, by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry with an objective to create an open and transparent procurement platform for government buyers.
- GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
- It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users achieve the best value for their money.
- The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorized and made mandatory by Ministry of Finance by adding a new Rule No. 149 in the General Financial Rules, 2017.
Top 5 in the world
- The number of orders has also surpassed 31.5 Lakh in the current financial year with a growth at the rate of 22%.
- In a short span of 5 years, GeM has become one of the biggest government e-procurement platforms in the world.
- Referring to the share of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), Singh said that,
- Approximately Rs 43,000 crore worth procurement was done by CPSEs on GeM, showing an approximate growth of 508 per cent as compared to last FY.
MSME & Women
- 57 per cent of the total business on GeM has come through the MSME units and over 6 per cent has been contributed by female entrepreneurs.
- It may be noted that the number of women sellers and entrepreneurs on GeM has grown 6 times in a year.
savings
- According to an independent assessment made by the World Bank, the average savings for buyers in the Government e-Marketplace portal is about 9.75% on the median price.
- In an analysis in the Economic Survey 2021-22, cost comparison of various commodities on GeM with those of popular online platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart showed that GeM prices were 9.5% lower.
Q) The power to create and abolish legislative council in states is vested with which among the following?
- State Legislative Assembly
- President of India
- Parliament of India
- Governor of the state
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