Government e-Marketplace claims to clock $5 Bn in GMV

The central government-owned online marketplace 'Government e-Marketplace' (GeM) said it has clocked a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of $5 billion (Rs 36,000 crores) on its platform.

As per the latest release, GeM said most of its transactions were from startups and MSMEs and close to 50% of the entire transactional value on GeM is from MSMEs.

GeM claims over 3,000 startups and 58,101 MSMEs on its platform.

However, the government-backed firm, which also boasts of being a transparent online marketplace, is yet to file its financials for 2019.

Interestingly, many vendors on the platform in the past have complained of delayed payments. About 35% of its transactions are dues, a major chunk of which are pending for over two months as per the last MCA filing.

In the past couple of months, the government has been mulling to widen the ambit of GeM by permitting government contractors and private bulk buyers to use the platform for buying goods and services.

Of late, it claims to have been working to improve the mechanism for timely payment to vendors, and rating buyers and sellers to promote growth.

GeM claims to work with multiple ministries to onboard self-help groups (SHGs) and artisan clusters, according to Talleen Kumar, CEO of GeM.

Launched in August 2016, the government has made it mandatory for all the departments and ministries to source goods and services from its e-marketplace.

Currently, government departments, ministries, public sector units, state governments, and Central Armed Police Forces are allowed to carry out transactions through this portal.

According to GeM, 295,046 sellers and service providers have registered with the portal. It claims that about 39,968 buyer organisations have registered on its platform.

The govt-backed portal hosts a wide range of products including electronic items, automobiles, computers and office furniture.