Goa govt joins Centre’s portal for purchases

Panaji: After holding out for four years, the Goa

government

has signed up on the Centre’s e-procurement

platform

, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), becoming the 24th state to shift all departmental purchases online.

Sharing the information on Saturday, GeM officials urged Goan entrepreneurs to sign up on the

portal

or they risk losing out on local orders.

GeM business facilitator for Goa and Karnataka, H S Gowtama said that Goan medium, small and micro scale enterprises (MSMEs) face a bigger opportunity to participate in government tenders.

“Goa government signed an MoU last month and has adopted General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017,” said Gowtama.

He was speaking at an online training session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for MSMEs who want to register as vendors on the GeM portal.

“Going forward as a seller there are a lot of opportunities for local MSMEs. As a seller they can participate in Goa’s tenders and any direct order across India, especially Karnataka and Maharashtra, by sitting in Goa,” he said.

The public sector is the largest buyer of goods and all state government departments and central agencies have to purchase supplies, services and equipment through the GeM portal, which was set up on August 9, 2016. GeM the Union commerce ministry’s attempt to create an online e-commerce marketplace for government agencies.

“Government is the largest buyer and GeM offers a unique opportunity for MSMEs to market and participate in the procurement of the government,” said CII-Goa chairman Blaise Costabir.

In the last 30 days, four government departments have purchased IT hardware through the GeM portal. The departments of excise, water resources, science and technology and urban development have utilised the portal to procure office equipment.

“GeM is transparent and companies seeking to register with the portal don’t have to submit any document or meet anyone. Any transaction on the GeM portal is completely digital and the L1 bidder is picked by the GeM algorithm and not the buyer. The bidder or the department has no role in selecting the company,” said Gowtama. He said that though vendors from Goa have registered on the portal, there is scope for many more companies to register.

With the state government jumping onboard GeM, Goan vendors and companies will face broader competition from suppliers across the country. All government departments would route their purchases through Goa Handicrafts Rural & Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (GHRSSIDC), which will also struggle to remain relevant.


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, Location Guesser and Mini Crossword.