New Delhi, July 23 (KNN) The government has set a target of 75 per cent procurement to be made through Government E-Marketplace (GeM) by the 15th of August and 100 per cent procurement by the end of the current fiscal year, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

During the review meeting of GeM, Goyal emphasized the need to identify anomalies in procurement through GeM using Advanced Analytics and AI ML-based tools and to take strict action against those responsible for it.

The meeting was attended by buyers from over 50 Central Govt. Ministries and 50 CPSEs with the aim to get firsthand feedback of the Buyers.

Goyal said that the Aggregation of demand through GeM will help in bringing down the cost of procurement for the government because of procurement happening through a single portal.

During the review meeting, Buyers were briefed about the new features and functionalities deployed on GeM in last year and also about planned developments in near future.

GeM has about 61,440 Government Buyer Organizations and about 47.99 Lakh Sellers & Service Providers with a rich listing of over 41.44 lakh Product Offerings and 1.9 lakh Service offerings. All states (except Sikkim) have already signed MoUs with GeM. As many as 239 CPSUs are also registered on GeM and making significant procurement through GeM Portal.

GeM has taken a host of steps to onboard products of Self-Help Groups (SHGs), tribal communities, craftsmen, weavers, and MSMEs with a view to making the platform more inclusive. 57 per cent of the total business on GeM has come through the MSE units and over 6 per cent has been contributed by women entrepreneurs.

It is also integrating with Panchayati Raj Institutions to allow online buying and selling by the Panchayats at the grassroot level.  (KNN Bureau)