What happened: GeM digitises government procurement through an end-to-end online marketplace

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a unified digital platform that enables government buyers to procure goods and services through a secure, paperless, cashless and contactless ecosystem. GeM digitises the full procurement lifecycle—seller registration and product listing, bidding, contract award, order fulfilment and payment—so that procurement becomes more transparent, efficient and competitive.

Background and earlier position: why procurement needed digitisation

Before GeM, public procurement across sectors involved paperwork, multiple approvals and lengthy tendering processes. Such conventional procurement limited efficiency, transparency and accountability.

GeM was launched on 9 August 2016. Government information attributes the reform to the need to replace fragmented, manual procurement processes with a technology-driven system.

What changed now: procurement modes, integrations and policy support