Guwahati: The Union Cabinet, presided by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved broadening GeM's scope to include cooperatives as buyers on GeM.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, inaugurated the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) on August 9, 2016, to develop an open and transparent procurement platform for Government purchasers.

On the 17th of May, 2017, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Government e-Marketplace (GeM SPV) was established as the National Public Procurement Portal in accordance with the Union Cabinet's sanction granted on the 12th of April, 2017.

At the moment, the platform is available for purchase by all government customers, including federal and state ministries, departments, public sector firms, autonomous organizations, and local governments. GeM is not accessible for use by private sector purchasers under the current mandate. Suppliers (sellers) might come from any sector: the government or private.

This effort would help over 8.54 lakh registered cooperatives and approximately 27 crore members. The GeM site is available to all buyers and merchants in the nation.

GeM will take appropriate initiatives, such as adding relevant features and functions to the GeM site, upgrading infrastructure, enhancing the helpdesk and training environment, and onboarding cooperatives. The Ministry of Cooperation would determine the overall pace and technique of roll-out. The milestones and goal dates will be jointly agreed upon by the Ministry of Cooperation and GeM. (Ministry of Commerce and Industry).

The Ministry of Cooperation wants Cooperative Societies to be able to purchase products and services via GeM because it is currently a one-stop gateway for online procurement of common use goods and services.

It is transparent, efficient, has economies of scale, and procures quickly. Allowing Cooperative Societies to register on GeM as Buyers of Goods and Services would assist Cooperatives in obtaining competitive pricing through an open and transparent procedure.

Furthermore, because the societies have over 27 crore members, procuring through GeM would not only assist the ordinary man monetarily, but it would also boost the cooperatives' legitimacy.

Each of GeM's three pillars has made tremendous progress: inclusiveness, openness, and efficiency. MSMEs provide around 58 percent of the total transaction value. Various independent investigations, including those conducted by the World Bank and the National Economic Survey 2021, found significant savings as a result of GeM's capacity to pool more participation and give cost-effective solutions.

The cooperative movement in India has evolved tremendously, playing a vital role in fulfilling the developmental needs of India's impoverished sections, particularly in the agricultural, banking, and housing sectors. There are now 8.54 lakh registered cooperatives. These cooperatives buy and sell in bulk. Currently, the registration of cooperatives as "buyers" was not covered by GeM's current mandate.