Procurement term
GeM (Government e-Marketplace)
India's national online procurement portal for government buyers to purchase goods and services directly from registered vendors, bypassing traditional tendering for qualifying purchases.
Government e-Marketplace is India's dedicated national e-procurement platform launched in 2016 under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It serves as both a catalogue portal (for direct purchases of standardized goods and services) and a bidding platform (for competitive tenders and reverse auctions). All central government ministries, departments, and public sector undertakings are required to procure through GeM for qualifying categories.
GeM operates at significant scale: as of recent reporting, it handles several trillion rupees in annual transactions across thousands of product and service categories. Vendors — whether domestic companies, MSMEs, or startups — must register on GeM to be eligible to supply to central government buyers. Registration involves business verification, GST validation, and product/service listing.
For vendors, GeM presents a direct-to-government channel with lower intermediary complexity than traditional procurement. Direct purchase through GeM is possible up to certain per-unit value thresholds; above these, competitive bidding through GeM's tendering module applies. Key strategic considerations include: maintaining accurate catalogue listings with up-to-date pricing (dynamic pricing adjustments are possible), building seller ratings through positive transaction history, and qualifying for MSME or startup classification to access reservation quotas and EMD exemptions.
Example
A software startup registers on GeM, lists its cloud subscription as a service, and receives direct purchase orders from eight government departments in its first year without running a single formal tender.
Related terms
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