Government e Marketplace (GeM), in association with Laghu Udyog Bharati- Karnataka (LUB-K), organised a MSE sellers’ meet with a view to bring together Central & State PSU buyers and Karnataka-based MSE sellers under the same roof. A focused registration drive was conducted at V One Hotel – Ambara Elite, Bengaluru on February 23, 2024, to provide unlimited market opportunities offered by GeM. The organisations collaborated to create awareness about GeM and drive its adoption among Karnataka-based MSMEs.

GeM is a digital public procurement portal that facilitates procurement of goods and services by all Central /State Government Ministries/Departments, Public Sector Units (PSUs), Panchayats, Cooperatives etc. By providing its stakeholders a unified digital infrastructure, GeM endeavours to make public procurement process transparent, efficient, and inclusive. Laghu Udyog Bharati, is a not-for-profit pan-India organisation established in 1994 to empower Micro and Small enterprises in the country.

Shri Ajit B Chavan, Additional CEO- GeM, Government of India presided over the function and Shri Shrinivasa, Additional Director, DIC, Government of Karnataka, attended the event as the Guest of Honour. Representatives from MSEs from all over Karnataka and officials from Central and State PSUs also participated in the meeting.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Ajit B Chavan, Additional CEO & Chief Seller Officer, GeM, underscored the important role played by MSEs in fulfilling purchase orders through GeM. Nearly 50% of the total order value of Rs 3.47 lakh crore transacted on GeM has been awarded to MSEs. He further highlighted the huge business opportunities GeM offers to the MSEs of Karnataka thereby boosting their participation in public procurement. He further announced GeM’s plan to launch GeM Sahay 2.0 which would provide collateral free loan upto Rs 10 lakh within 10 minutes at sub 10% interest rates to address the challenge of limited access to finance among marginalised sellers.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Shrinivasa mentioned, “GeM is unlocking new business opportunities for Karnataka’s MSEs by providing them access to conducting business in the national public procurement market from anywhere at any time.”

A panel discussion was also held during the event where representatives from the Central and State PSUs interacted with the MSE Sellers and further informed them about their public procurement needs and requirements and opportunities.

“Since inception, sellers from Karnataka have fulfilled orders worth INR 32,937 crore through GeM. Of this, orders worth INR 12,570 crores have been fulfilled by MSE units registered in the state (till 31st January 2024). With access to the national public procurement market at their fingertips, State MSEs have received a large share of orders from CPSEs across India as well as other State Government Departments,” highlighted Shri Chavan.

Interestingly, orders worth nearly INR 11,529 crore have been received by these MSEs from Central Government buyers and other state buyers (till 31st January 2023).

GeM is committed to fostering inclusivity and increasing access to market among marginalised seller groups like Artisans & Weavers, Craftsmen, Tribal Entrepreneurs, MSEs, especially women-led and SC/ST MSEs, Divyangans, SHGs, FPOs and Startups. The portal integrates seamlessly with Udyam portal to facilitate ease in registration and onboarding of MSMEs.

During the event, the State chapter of Laghu Udyog Bharti, represented by Shri K Narayana Prasanna, General Secretary, LUB-K and Dr. Sachin B Sabnis, President, LUB-K mobilised their MSE members from across Karnataka to facilitate their live onboarding on GeM portal and also gave them an opportunity to seek on-the-spot redressal of their issues by GeM representatives. Earlier this month, GeM broke all records by surpassing INR 3 lakh crore in Gross Merchandise Value in the current financial year. With high-value orders in the pipeline, the portal is on track to hit the INR 4 lakh crore mark in GMV by the end of this fiscal year.

About GeM:

Government e Marketplace (GeM) is an online public procurement portal developed to facilitate the procurement of goods and services by various government departments, agencies, Public Sector Undertakings. It was launched in August 2016 as a part of the government's "Digital India" initiative to bring Efficiency, Transparency, and Inclusivity in public procurement. GeM aims to promote the use of digital technology to simplify public procurement processes.

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Public procurement access expanded for MSMEs through digital onboarding, buyer engagement and expedited collateral-free credit. GeM conducted a Karnataka-focused registration and onboarding drive linking Central and State PSU buyers with local MSE sellers to expand participation in public procurement. The campaign provided live digital onboarding integrated with the Udyam portal, on-the-spot redressal, and buyer-seller interactions to clarify procurement needs. GeM promoted inclusion of marginalised seller groups and announced GeM Sahay 2.0 to provide expedited collateral-free loan access to address working-capital constraints.