Small Business Wins Gov't Contract via GeM

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) was launched on August 9, 2016, by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to digitize the often slow and opaque process of public procurement. It functions as a centralized online platform for the procurement of goods and services required by various government departments, PSUs, and other official organizations. This initiative aims to enhance transparency, efficiency, and speed in government buying. The platform has seen exponential growth in transaction value, crossing ₹4 lakh crore in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in the 2023-24 fiscal year, a twofold increase from the ₹2.01 lakh crore recorded in the previous year. As of early 2025, the services sector has become a major driver of this growth, accounting for 62% of the total GMV. GeM is designed to be inclusive, removing traditional barriers for small businesses. Government policy mandates that at least 25% of purchases are from Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The platform actively facilitates this with features like waivers on prior experience or turnover requirements and exemptions from Earnest Money Deposits. This focus on MSMEs has yielded significant results, with over 1.125 million MSME sellers securing government orders worth more than ₹7.44 lakh crore by late 2025. The platform hosts over 6.7 million sellers and more than 70,000 buyer organizations, creating a vast national marketplace. To further encourage participation, GeM has revised its fee structure. As of August 2024, transaction charges are waived for orders below ₹10 lakh, a change that benefits the vast majority of sellers as nearly 97% of transactions fall under this threshold. For high-value transactions above ₹10 crore, the fee has been reduced by 96%. Beyond just buying and selling, the platform has streamlined the entire procurement lifecycle. By eliminating middlemen and digitizing processes from vendor registration to payment, GeM has reportedly generated minimum savings of about 10% for the government, which translates to approximately ₹40,000 crore in saved public funds. Initiatives like SWAYATT (Startups, Women and Youth Advantage Through e-Transactions) actively promote the participation of specific entrepreneurial groups. As of February 2025, GeM had onboarded over 29,000 startups and 180,000 Udyam-verified women-led businesses, directly connecting them to the public procurement ecosystem. The platform has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Indian Manufacturers of Medical Devices (AiMeD) to bring over 300 medical device manufacturers directly to government buyers. This is part of a broader national policy to grow India's share of the global medical device market, which is projected to reach $50 billion by 2025.