The Role of GeM in Innovating Public Procurement Policies
Conclusion In India, Public Procurement amounts to nearly 20-22% of GDP. This means that a significant amount of tax payers’ money is directed towards making purchases of public goods and services that constitute the lifeblood of government programmes and services. The importance of efficient public procurement cannot be overstated. Yet, up until 2016, India’s public procurement structure grappled with latencies like tedious and time-consuming processes, multiple barriers to entry to the marketplace, cartelization, delayed payments to vendors and excessive public spending on low-quality products. To combat these inconsistencies and to inculcate the vision of inclusive development, transparency and corruption-free governance, Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi established GeM in 2016.
This blog explores the innovations embedded in GeM platform that have significantly transformed public procurement in India.
What is GeM?
GeM is a unified digital platform that facilitates end-to-end procurement of goods and services by various government departments, organisations, and public sector undertakings (PSUs). It provides a paperless, cashless and contactless ecosystem for government buyers to directly purchase products and services from pan-India sellers and service providers through an online platform. GeM covers the entire gamut of procurement process, right from vendor registration and item selection by buyers to receipt of goods and facilitation of timely payments. By extending right capabilities, capacities and functionalities, the portal has brought about paradigm shift in India’s public procurement landscape.
Through automation and digitisation of processes, GeM has led to higher process efficiencies, better information sharing, improved transparency, reduced process cycle times, and a higher level of trust among bidders. This, in turn, has resulted in greater competition and higher savings. These innovations in GeM have also brought down waiting times and prices for buyers significantly and have ensured timely payments to sellers. Its inclusive approach has created an open and diverse public procurement marketplace that provides a level-playing field to start-ups, MSEs, women entrepreneurs, artisans, and craftsmen, allowing them to participate in government tenders without any barriers.
Key Policy Innovations in GeM
1. Efficiency through Automation & Digitisation
GeM offers a completely paperless, contactless and cashless platform with end-to-end digitisation of each touch point in public procurement journey – right from registration to payments. By eliminating manual interventions, GeM has streamlined the procurement processes, making it less time-consuming. The real-time tracking of all bids results in better information sharing and reduced paperwork, resulting in faster procurement cycles.
2. Transparency and Accountability
In line with its vision of increasing transparency in public procurement, GeM has enacted groundbreaking policies to ensure unhindered flow of information among buyers, sellers and the public. The portal publishes data of all contracts and results of technical/financial evaluations of bids in the public domain, thus making it accessible by anyone at any time. In a bid to further enhance easy accessibility in public procurement, GeM has also integrated with Aadhaar, NIC, PAN, Udyam database to enable automatic registrations and verification of Buyers and Sellers onto the portal. GeM has revamped the bidding process to make it more transparent and ensure non-bias in awarding of contracts through e-auctioning.
3. Inclusivity and Accessibility
The platform has ruled out all registration restrictions that were earlier in place to establish a more inclusive and competitive market. This has eliminated the monopoly or larger entities and has opened the public procurement market to sellers/service providers nationwide – irrespective of their size and turnover. The portal provides functionalities that allow buyers to filter for products/services that are locally manufactured or have some local content percentage, thus opening wider business opportunities for homegrown businesses. Through digital integration of stakeholders, it enables marginalized sellers like SC/ST and Women Entrepreneurs, artisans, weavers and craftsmen from fringing corners of the country, to participate in bids without any barriers to entry. Dedicated storefronts have also been created on the portal under the banner of ‘#vocal4local’ to showcase products and services by underserved groups like Self-Help Groups, Startups, Persons with Disabilities, Artisans, Craftsmen, Weavers, Farmer Producer Organisations etc.
4. Competitive Bidding
By eliminating all barriers to entry to public procurement, GeM enables competitive bidding by providing a level-playing field for all eligible sellers and service providers to participate in e-tenders floated on the portal. The large pool of bidders ensures cost optimization for government buyers, empowering large public savings.
5. Integrated Payment System
GeM has an integrated payment system that ensures prompt and secure payments to vendors. This feature is particularly beneficial for small businesses that rely on timely payments to maintain their cash flow. The automated payment process reduces the risk of delays and disputes, enhancing vendor satisfaction and trust in the system.
How to Register on GeM
Registering on GeM is a straightforward process. Businesses need to follow these steps:
Visit GeM Website: Go to the official GeM portal (gem.gov.in).
Create an Account: Click on the Sign Up' and select ‘Seller / Service Provider’ from drop down menu.
Fill in details: Select organization type and name
Verification: Verify personal information through PAN or Aadhaar.
Submit Documents: Submit CIN, PAN, DIPP, Udyamn & ITR Details.
Submit Additional Details: Fill in supplementary details to complete your registration on the GeM portal.
GeM Training and Support
GeM provides a host of learning options to equip its users about functionalities and features and enable efficient navigation. In addition to conducting free online training sessions for buyers and sellers, GeM has also recently launched an Interactive & Multilingual Learning Management System to help Government Buyers and Sellers / Service Providers navigate the GeM platform with ease. The interactive LMS showcases engaging content and certification courses, thereby effectively enhancing the understanding of GeM and public procurement procedures among its stakeholders. GeM Interactive LMS is amongst the first few government organisations / departments to enable access to a multilingual interface as well as SCORM-compliant eLearning content in multiple regional languages. The interactive Learning Management System is currently accessible in 12 languages – Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Odiya, Tamil, Telegu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi and Assamese.
GeM has introduced several policy innovations that have transformed public procurement in India. By promoting efficiency, transparency and inclusivity, GeM has created a more equitable and effective procurement system for pan-India government buyers and sellers / service providers.
The past financial year concluded with a GMV of more than ₹ 4 lakh crore, setting a formidable foundation for this year's achievement. The portal's extended range of service offerings has contributed significantly to its widespread adoption during this period. As the platform continues to evolve and bring in significant reforms, it ushers in the next wave of growth transforming procurement across states, and widening opportunities for local service providers and MSEs across State Governments.
