MoHUA Procures INR 685 Crore Goods And Services On GeM In FY24 So Far

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has reported procurement of goods and services worth INR 685 crore on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) as of October 10 in the current fiscal year. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs serves as the central agency responsible for overseeing national initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), aimed at housing the urban underprivileged, and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), which focuses on enhancing fundamental urban infrastructure across the country. This infrastructure includes key elements such as drainage systems, water supply, sewerage facilities, and septic tanks.

In the financial year 2022-23, the Ministry of Defence emerged as the leading purchaser of goods from micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). This marked a significant increase compared to the previous fiscal year. During FY23, the ministry procured goods valued at INR 28,732.9 crore, representing a substantial 90.4 per cent increase from the INR 15,090.8 crore of goods and services it had procured in FY22.

In the current financial year, the defence ministry remained one of the top procurers on GeM with procurement worth INR 13,776 crore till July.

According to information available at the GeM dashboard as of October 25, a substantial sum of over INR 1.85 lakh crore has been expended on the procurement of goods and services. This involved an order volume of 29.24 lakh transactions, spanning across 11,845 products and 311 service categories. The platform has over 1.03 lakh primary buyers and more than 1.95 lakh secondary buyers. Notably, nearly half, or 48.84 per cent, of the order value is attributed to micro and small enterprises (MSEs).

In a bid to enhance the involvement of MSMEs on the GeM platform, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was established between GeM and the Udyam platform in order to share the data of Udyam-registered MSMEs with GeM. It also opens doors for businesses to partake in trade fairs, exhibitions, conclaves, and expos, offering opportunities to contribute to the Make in India campaign.

Recently, GeM had also partnered with the Digital India Bhashini Division (DIBD) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to assist sellers in creating their product and service catalogs in local languages. The primary objective of the MoU was to promote the development of language technology and generative AI solutions, particularly in vernacular languages, with a focus on supporting startups in this domain, as highlighted in a statement shared by GeM.

Bhashini platform, an AI-based technology solution, was launched in July 2022. The AI-powered technology serves as a solution for translating content into various Indian languages, enabling both individuals and businesses to overcome language barriers. GeM reported that as of October 10, procurements amounting to INR 1,167 crore were made by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology using the platform.

In conclusion, the remarkable surge in goods procurement by the ministries and CPSEs through GeM signifies the platform's contribution to supporting MSMEs. The widespread utilization of GeM underscores the platform's positive impact on public procurement and inclusive growth. This will also strengthen the government’s goal of achieving a 100 per cent procurement target through the GeM portal.