UP purchases Rs 8,940 cr items from GeM portal

THE GEM PORTAL HAS ALSO SUPPORTED SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES DURING THE PANDEMIC.

Various departments of Uttar Pradesh government have purchased goods worth Rs Rs 8,940 crore from the Government e-Market (GeM) portal of the Centre in the past four and a half years.

The Modi government had launched the GeM portal on August 9, 2016, to make the procurement system by government and public sector bodies transparent.

The urban development department toppedthe list with purchase of Rs 3190 crore from the GeM portal, said the state government on Saturday.

The health and family welfare department is second on the list after purchasing items of Rs 2720 crore from the GeM portal, while the basic education department stands at the third place with purchase of Rs 830 crore.

The other departments of the state government that purchased goods from the GeM portal are the medical education department, home department, information and public relations department, skill development mission, food and logistics department, general administration department and rural development department.

According to the state government, there are 12,847 government buyers and 2,21,450 sellers on the GeM portal, including 62,973 MSMEs.

It may be pointed out that Uttar Pradesh has the distinction of making the highest procurement from the GeM portal across the country for three consecutive years.

The Centre had awarded the Uttar Pradesh government with the Best Buyer Award in 2018 and Super Buyer Award in 2019.

According to the state government, in the ongoing financial year till September 16 this year, goods over Rs 4192 crore have been purchased from the GeM portal.

The GeM portal has also supported small and medium enterprises during the pandemic. The Modi government is also using this e-commerce portal to promote MSMEs.