MSMEs to benefit as GeM-Federal Bank sign pact to transfer funds through GeM Pool Accounts

New Delhi, Oct 24 (KNN) Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a portal to procure goods & services from Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), has singned signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with private sector lender Federal Bank for the latter to offer services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts.

According to a Commerce Ministry statement,  the Federal Bank would also offer advice of Performance Bank Guarantees (e-PBG) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the portal. Also, the partnership would facilitate cashless and paperless payments on the portal.

This will support MSMEs to get easy credit and improve business with the government. Moreover, GeM portal is also looking at setting up Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) pool account to help sellers comply with the EMD requirements while responding to bids.

GeM platform was launched in August 2016 to help government departments with for the procurement of goods and services in a transparent manner. It is also working with other banks, Trade Receivable Discounting System, and SIDBI to offer “bill discounting and financing of working capital where the cost of capital is linked to the performance and rating of a seller on GeM,” the ministry said.

According to the data available on the website, out of total 291,895 sellers and service providers on the GeM portal, 56,619 are micro and small (MSE) sellers while the number of products and services listed on the portal is around 14 lakh.

In terms of buyers, the portal has 39.6k buyer organisations. The number of orders made stands at 25.72 lakh and a transaction value of Rs 36k crore. Importantly, 49.7 per cent of the order value comes from MSE sellers.

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