TCS awarded contract to run, maintain GeM procurement portal: Piyush Goyal

NEW DELHI: India’s largest software exporter TCS has won the contract for running and maintaining the government procurement portal GeM, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

The Government e-Market (GeM) portal was launched on August 9, 2016, by the commerce ministry for online purchases of goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments. Goyal said the ministry is continuously trying to improvise the system.

“And now we are also gone in for a new contract. By the end of this year or early next year, we are trying to develop a new system, which will be more contemporary, modern...We are trying to bring in more elements for ease of operations and to give you (buyers and sellers) data analytics to help in your procurement decisions...TCS has won the contract (for that),” he said. The minister was speaking at a function on GeM awards here.

He also said the use of this portal by central and state departments for procurement of goods and services is also helping in saving taxpayers’ money, which is being used for public welfare projects. Goyal expressed hope that procurement of goods and services from the government portal GeM would cross Rs 3 lakh crore this fiscal. It has crossed Rs 2 lakh crore in 2022-23.

GeM CEO PK Singh said TCS has won the contract for a service provider of GeM for running and maintaining the platform. He said there was a “10x” growth in procurement from this platform in the last three years. “We are using the best of the technologies to make the system more efficient and effective,” Singh said. GeM has over 63,000 government buyer organisations and over 62 lakh sellers and service providers offering a wide range of products and services. Currently, government departments, ministries, public sector units, state governments and central armed police forces are allowed to carry out transactions through this portal.

The portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles. Automobiles, computers and office furniture are some of the major product categories. Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, webcasting and analytical are listed on the portal. South Korea’s KONEPS is the largest such platform in the world.