New Delhi, Mar 2 (KNN) While the Modi Government is promoting e-business even at the retail traders level, there is utter confusion in e-procurement by the Government itself.

With the Central Government Ministries and Undertakings buying goods and services of at least Rs. 2 lakh crore worth of every year,  the e-business should have started there for transparency.

However, at least three different agencies operating three different portals for e procurement has made e-business with the Government more difficult, at least for the MSMEs.

So no prize for searching reasons why even after a Government mandate, Government supply by the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) is less than 10%  of total Government procurements, against a minimum target of 20%.

Government e-market (GeM), Tenders India and Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) are the three e-procurement portals being run parallel by the three different Government departments, with impunity.

So the predicament of an aspiring MSME to enter the ‘transparent’ Government procurement business may be well understood.

No surprise that even after sufficient prodding by the Ministry of MSME, the Ministry in charge of monitoring the progress of  the public procurement policy for micro and small enterprises and conducting of umpteen number of buyer sellers meet, very few MSMEs could venture to supply the Government.

Among the e-public procurement portal, the Tender India is the oldest and run by NIC under the Ministry of Electronics and IT.

In 2013, due to reasons best known to itself, Government launched the CPPP, appears to be administered by the Ministry of Finance.

And recently the Ministry of Commerce has launched the GeM portal with much fanfare and announced by FM Jaitley in his budget speech as an example of transparency in Government procurement.

For the ease of doing business the Government should have only one e-portal for procurement with separate platforms, for say, e market, Limited tenders, global tenders etc. so that an intending buyer or seller can go the platform of their choice.

The first casualty of this multiplicity of portals is the poor MSME who have neither the resources nor wherewithal to search three portals daily for buyers of his / her interest.

Also the layout and organisation of the three portals are so different and often the speed is so slow that for even an accustomed person it will take hours to locate a tender of interest. (KNN/ DB)