Technology for MSMEs: Public procurement platform Government e-Marketplace (GeM), which launched an initiative called GeM Samvaad last week to attract and onboard sellers to sell products online to government buyers including public sector units, departments, and organisation, have already covered four states including Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Andhra Pradesh, Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. However, the number of local sellers engaged within these four states to get on-board the platform wasn’t disclosed by the ministry. The programme began on December 19 and will continue till February 17, 2020. GeM currently has 3.1 lakh sellers including 64,547 micro and small sellers. GeM has processed 29.80 lakh orders worth Rs 42,201 crores in Gross Merchandise Value out of which 51.55 per cent has been transacted by MSMEs.
GeM’s senior officers including the CEO Talleen Kumar “are also interacting with buyers and sellers attending the events,” the ministry said as it aims to connect with all stakeholders for feedback on their usage of GeM portal. This process is the “first step towards GeM’s ‘Voice of Customer’ initiative.” Reaching out to potential sellers through a unique programme mirrors the strategy adopted by leading e-commerce brands in the country including Amazon and Flipkart to connect with artisans, craftsmen, weavers, and other MSME sellers in small cities to support them in getting into the e-commerce fold and sell across India.
Also read: Small business? Have you not yet signed up for this Modi scheme to raise manufacturing quality?
GeM was launched in August 2016 to bring transparency and efficiency in the government buying process. The platform helped buyers save average 32.79 per cent on buying from MSMEs in the 10-month duration (till October) this year, GeM had tweeted earlier. In fact, five central ministries were able to save Rs 24.84 crore in October 2019. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was able to save Rs 16.47 crore, Rs 7.74 crore was saved by Ministry of Coal, savings for Ministry of Tourism was Rs 46.19 lakh while Ministry of New and Renewable Energy saved Rs 14.29 lakh and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation save Rs 2.80 lakh.