By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, NOV 02, 2023: GOVERNMENT e-Marketplace (GeM) has achieved significant milestones in the procurement of services over the past few years. GeM, India's leading online platform for government procurement, witnessed an extraordinary increase in the transaction value, reinforcing its commitment to streamlining the procurement process and fostering efficiency and transparency in government purchases.

GeM's robust growth in service procurement has been nothing short of remarkable. Over the last two to three years, the transaction value has surged from approximately INR 8,505 crore in FY 20-21 to an impressive INR 65, 957 crore in FY 22-23. The services sector has exhibited a staggering increase in the overall contribution to GeM Gross Merchandise Value or the total order value transacted through the platform, having jumped from 23% in FY 21-22 to nearly 47% in the current financial year. GeM has set a forward-looking target of surpassing INR 1.50 lakh crore in the current fiscal year.

This unprecedented success can be attributed to the active involvement of top Government buyers from various sectors. Leading Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) such as Coal India Limited, NTPC Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited have actively leveraged GeM for their service procurement needs. Furthermore, a multitude of states and union territories, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Punjab, have embraced GeM as their go-to platform for services procurement. 

GeM offers a diverse range of services across multiple categories such as:

Manpower Outsourcing Services: With approximately 40,000 contracts placed for hiring manpower services in FY 22-23, the total contract value exceeded INR 14,000 crore.

Vehicle Hiring Services: A staggering 30,000 contracts were placed for hiring vehicle services in FY 22-23, with a total contract value exceeding INR 2,900 crore.

Handling, Transport & Other Mining Services: Major subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd. and NTPC Ltd. have placed numerous orders, with substantial order values. Approx. 175 Orders were placed by subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd. With total order value of INR 24, 558 Cr. for handling, transport & other Mining activities.

Insurance Services: GeM has also expanded its large portfolio of services offerings to include Insurance services. This service offering is particularly beneficial as GeM mandates all IRDA-approved Insurance Companies to directly sell insurance cover sans intermediaries like brokers and agents. Recently, Government of Gujarat placed an order for Group Mediclaim Insurance worth ? 2302 Crore under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana to provide health insurance cover to nearly 62 lakh families.

IT Services: Several key organisations and ministries have harnessed GeM for IT services for procuring complex IT services including core banking solutions and digital healthcare solutions.

Local Chemist Empanelment: Orders worth approximately INR 1038 crore have been placed by Central Government Health Schemes (CGHS) after empanelling Chemists at various medical centres across the country.

Medical Services: Contracts for hiring healthcare manpower placed for more than INR 1100 Cr. till date. Other medical services including Healthcare Sanitation Services, Ambulace services, Heathcare Kitchen and dietary services etc, are available on GeM.

GeM actively supports the implementation of various government schemes, including the Jal Jeevan Mission, Mission Karmayogi, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, and Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 Scheme by creating suitable services to facilitate implementation of these schemes.

GeM has facilitated unique service orders such as:

Hiring of Chartered Aircrafts: The Ministry of Defence hired 830 Chartered Aircrafts for multiple routes, including Leh, Shrinagar, Andaman & Nicobar to & from flights, with an order value of approximately INR 142 crore.

Air International Logistics Service: Munitions India Ltd., under the Ministry of Defence, hired an agency for the international logistics of approximately 24,000 kg of IMO Class-I Dangerous Goods from Sweden Airport to India, with an order value of approximately INR 3 crore.

Drone as a Service: Survey of India and Coal India Ltd. have harnessed Drone as a Service (DaaS) for various applications, such as surveying and aerial mapping.

Many other unique service offerings have also been facilitated by GeM under the service categories like leasing of High Value Medical Equipment, Market research/Survey, Examination Service, Cyber security services, Hiring of AV/VR Services for events etc.

GeM continues to drive high-value service bids in areas such as:

Hiring, Operation And Management Of ATM: Bids have been published for the supply, installation, operation, and management of thousands of ATMs by State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and Bank of Baroda, with estimated bid values reaching several crores. For instance, Bid published for supply, installation, operation & Management of 13,500 ATMs for 7 years by SBI worth INR ~7000 Cr.

Energy Audit Service: The Ministry of Railways has issued an Energy Efficiency Policy for sustainable buildings, energy efficiency in equipment and appliances, power quality restoration, capacity building, and awareness. Several bids have been published for the Investment Grade Energy Audit of buildings.

GIS Survey - Drone Mapping: Survey of India, under the Ministry of Science & Technology, has published a bid for hiring an agency for GIS mapping, covering an extensive area of approx. 30000 sqkm using drone images for Haryana State.

Also, there are multiple ongoing High value bids in the service categories like Warehousing Service, IT Services, Hiring of Vessels, Handling, Transport & other Mining Services.