For promoting transparency and weeding out corruption in departments and agencies, the Uttar Pradesh government has set a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) target of almost Rs 5,000 crore on GeM (Government e-Marketplace) platform for the 2019-20 fiscal.

The GMV clocked by UP last year was of nearly Rs 2,500 crore.

A Union government initiative, the GeM is an end-to-end e-market where common user goods and services can be procured by various government bodies, including ministries, departments, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and autonomous bodies.

A MSME department official said, “There is lot of potential for GeM in UP and we are confident that the state will hit GMV of almost Rs 5,000 crore by the end of March 2020.”

On June 28, the state government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the State Bank of India (SBI), which will facilitate the payment gateway for procurement in the state and manage the GeM pool account.

Although Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced it was adopting GeM in August 2017, it was not until March 2018 that actual procurement could begin on the platform, post-registration of sellers and completion of formalities.

Since March 2018, UP has logged total GMV of Rs 2,617 crore on the GeM with total number of orders standing at more than 1,15,000.

The MSME department official claimed that the GMV of UP stood highest among all Indian states, although the state trailed top ranked Delhi in terms of number of orders placed via GeM.

UP, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are among the largest buyers on the platform.

Yogi has issued general instructions for ensuring hundred per cent procurement through GeM, and pursuing e-tendering only in case of such goods and services that are not available on the portal.

Official sources said that GeM procurement would not only ensure transparency, but also help the small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in getting timely payment without hassles.

“GeM procurement has helped the state government save to the tune of 20-30 per cent so far which is substantial in terms of tax payers’ money saved,” the official said.

Meanwhile, during 2018-19, the GeM had grossed Rs 23,000 crore in GMV through 1.7 million transactions over its platform across India. The GeM reported four-fold increase in total value of transactions and doubling of sellers on the e-marketplace.

Besides, there have been growth in other verticals as well like number of categories, products and buyers. Interestingly, average rejection rate of supplies kept below 1 per cent, indicating high quality of products and services. In fact, procurement by all states on GeM has exceeded the value clocked by Union government. Procurement by states on GeM hit Rs 9,200 crore against Rs 7,947 crore in the last fiscal.