The Government eMarketplace (GeM) has marked its ninth year of operations with transactions worth ₹5.4 lakh crore in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) for 2024–25, according to figures released by the Commerce Ministry.
Established in 2016 under the Centre’s “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” initiative, the online platform is designed to make public procurement more transparent, efficient and inclusive.
Officials say GeM’s registered sellers now range from women-led enterprises and micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to self-help groups (SHGs), artisans, startups and entrepreneurs with disabilities.
This year’s Foundation Day was observed under the theme “Ease, Access and Inclusion”, with a set of reforms aimed at lowering barriers to entry for vendors. These include removing the requirement for caution money, rationalising vendor assessment fees and reducing transaction charges — a change the platform estimates will exempt 97% of orders from such fees.
“These reforms demonstrate our intent to make GeM even more inclusive and accessible,” said GeM’s Chief Executive Officer Mihir Kumar at the anniversary event in New Delhi. He added that the focus was on ensuring enterprises “from tribal artisans to tech-driven startups” could access procurement opportunities.
The celebrations featured two outreach programmes: “GeM Seller Samvad” on 6 August, which the platform said brought together participants from multiple sectors, and “GeM Manthan”, a dialogue on creating a more inclusive procurement framework.
GeM facilitates paperless, real-time transactions across sectors including health, mining and insurance. While it has rolled out AI-powered search tools, voice-enabled navigation and a multilingual learning management system to aid onboarding, officials indicated these features are still at a relatively early stage and will need to be scaled up. Industry analysts note that the scope of AI integration in public procurement remains limited compared with the platform’s overall scale.
Since inception, GeM reports onboarding 1.5 lakh women-led enterprises alongside startups, SHGs, artisans and MSEs. In recent years, it has expanded into service categories such as insurance, manpower and Mine Development & Operations (MDOs).
Officials say training and onboarding support are being extended to vendors via partnerships with state governments, public sector undertakings and local bodies, particularly in underserved regions.
According to the Commerce Ministry, the broader aim is to use technology to improve transparency, enhance user experience and promote sustainability in procurement. GeM describes itself as a fully digital, cashless, system-driven platform providing end-to-end procurement solutions for government buyers and registered sellers.
