The government’s e-marketplace aims to onboard 1 lakh startups

New Delhi, September 28 (KNN) Government e-Marketplace (GeM), India’s public procurement platform, has announced plans to onboard 100,000 startups to its system.

This initiative aims to enable new businesses to participate in eligible offers for government contracts, even if they cannot meet the standard turnover and experience requirements.

Ajit B Chavan, additional director general, GeM, said, “Our aim is to list all DPIIT-recognized startups that have a product to sell or a service to offer to the government on the GeM platform.”

Currently, around 26,500 startups recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) are registered on GeM.

The platform allows government buyers to relax eligibility criteria for startups, including minimum experience, prior performance and financial standing.

Since its inception in 2016, GeM has facilitated government procurement worth over Rs 10 lakh crore, becoming the world’s second largest government procurement platform after South Korea’s KONEPS platform.

Recently, GeM reduced transaction fees, which particularly benefited start-ups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Orders worth up to Rs 10 lakh are currently free of any transaction fees.

Chavan said that SMEs listed on GeM accounted for around 39 per cent of the total value of orders placed through the platform. DPIIT recognized startups have done business worth over Rs 29,000 crore through GeM.

The platform has also emerged as a key factor in India’s ‘Make in India’ policy. In FY 2020-21, almost 39 per cent of bids submitted by central government entities for GeM were marked with ‘Make in India’ preference.

This figure has increased to around 81 per cent in the current financial year, indicating a significant increase in the use of this policy.

As of June 30, 2024, the number of startups recognized by DPIIT exceeded 140,000. GeM initiatives are part of the government’s broader goals of supporting domestic enterprises, fostering innovation and enhancing India’s global competitiveness.

(KNN Office)