Services Procurement Biz Touches Rs 1.82 Lakh Crore As Of Feb 22 On GeM Portal

Procurement of services through government buying portal GeM touched Rs 1.82 lakh crore as of Feb. 22, an official statement said on Friday.

It was Rs 8,500 crore in 2020-21, the commerce ministry said.

It added that two bids placed by South Eastern Coalfield Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, worth nearly Rs 40,000 crore, have catapulted the share of service procurement this month.

GeM CEO P K Singh said that the GeM has harnessed digital capabilities and has emerged as a one-stop-shop for procurement of all possible services that may be required by Government buyers at various levels of administration.

GeM was established in 2016 to provide government buyers an end-to-end digital platform to carry out public procurement of goods at cost-effective rates.

In 2019-20, the platform diversified its portfolio to include services as a separate segment by offering government buyers the flexibility to hire very few basic services like Manpower Hiring, Cab Hiring, Security Services and Cleaning & Sanitation services, through tools like e-bidding and reverse auction.