New GeM initiative empowers buyers and last-mile sellers with secure, fair, and compliant procurement opportunities

 

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has launched a special campaign during Vigilance Awareness Week titled “GeM Ki Sunien, Satark Rahein, Zimmedar Banein,” reaffirming its commitment to transparency, integrity, and ethical practices in public procurement.

The campaign has been designed as a comprehensive awareness and educational initiative, aimed at encouraging buyers to adopt best practices, comply with rules, and leverage GeM’s in-built safeguards, while also enabling sellers—particularly last-mile entrepreneurs, startups, and MSEs from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities—to access safe, compliant, and transparent opportunities on the platform. GeM’s robust safeguards, including red-flag alerts, structured bid conditions, and transparent audit trails, ensure that every transaction remains secure, fair, and trustworthy.

As part of the drive, GeM is also undertaking vernacular press outreach, beginning with Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, to create greater awareness among diverse business communities. This outreach underscores the scale of opportunities available on the platform and its focus on empowering entrepreneurs from even the remotest parts of India to participate confidently in public procurement.

Speaking on the occasion, CEO, GeM Shri Mihir Kumar, said that GeM is more than just a platform—it is a national commitment to fairness, inclusion, and trust in public procurement. Vigilance Awareness Week, he noted, reminds all stakeholders that transparency and responsibility are shared values. By connecting last-mile sellers, startups, and small businesses with buyers across India, GeM ensures that growth remains inclusive, ethical, and sustainable.

GeM is also expanding opportunities through eight dedicated #VocalForLocal outlets and curated market pages for startups, SHGs, artisans, weavers, and FPOs. With a progressive revenue policy—where 97 percent of orders are exempt from transaction fees and the caution money requirement for new sellers has been waived—participation has been made simpler, more inclusive, and affordable for MSEs across the country.

The impact of these measures is already visible. In Madhya Pradesh, sellers have received orders worth ₹38,027 crore through GeM, including ₹26,937 crore by MSEs, ₹1,584 crore by startups, ₹3,197 crore by women-led enterprises, and ₹1,306 crore by SC/ST entrepreneurs. In Chhattisgarh, sellers have secured orders worth ₹87,873 crore, with MSEs contributing ₹48,575 crore, startups ₹420 crore, women entrepreneurs ₹1,242 crore, and SC/ST sellers ₹199 crore.

These achievements highlight GeM’s growing role as India’s trusted public procurement ecosystem, reinforcing its mission to build an inclusive, transparent, and equitable marketplace that empowers every segment of society.

Transparency in public procurement: GeM campaign promotes ethical, inclusive procurement and safeguards for buyers and last mile sellers. GeM has launched a Vigilance Awareness Week campaign to strengthen public procurement transparency and ethical practices by promoting platform safeguards-such as red-flag alerts, structured bid conditions, and transparent audit trails-and encouraging buyer compliance. The initiative also focuses on inclusive market access for last-mile sellers, startups, and MSEs through curated market pages, vernacular outreach, dedicated outlets, and a progressive revenue policy that reduces participation barriers and simplifies onboarding.