‘GeM may offer works contracts’

The procurement portal wants works contracts for construction projects to also be bid out through the platform with a transparent monitoring mechanism; procurements through the GeM platform this year rises past the ₹4 lakh crore mark

he Government eMarketplace (GeM), an online platform for public procurement of goods and services, plans to seek the Centre’s approval to enable work contracts for construction and building projects to also be bid out through the platform with a transparent monitoring mechanism to assess the progress in such contracts.

This is part of a broader reboot of the GeM platform, which is now used for everything from critical

Tdefence procurements to services like aircraft chartering and printing of electionrelated material, its chief executive officer P. K. Singh said on Friday.

The planned upgrade includes a revamp of its online interface to switch to an open Application Programming Interface (API) architecture, that will allow individual departments, States, and local bodies to create customised microprocurement portals with multilingual interfaces and flexibilities for local rules.

On Thursday evening, a service procurement order from the State Bank of India worth about ₹400 crore pushed the total gross merchandise value of procurements done through the GeM platform this year beyond the ₹4 lakh crore mark—double the ₹2.01 lakh crore recorded in 202223.

On work contracts, Mr. Singh said the tendering process is often timeconsuming, starting with the need to draft Requests for Proposals that can take six months to a year, and the tendering process often attracts only local contractors and also faces delays.

If the GeM is allowed for such projects, a contractor in Kerala can bid for work in Rajasthan and the project’s progress can be monitored online. Milestonelinked payments released electronically which save contractors from having to pursue officers, and postcontract management features can also be included, the GeM CEO said.