In future, govt supplies could be procured from Union ministry portal

Panaji: A persuasive call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to all states to use the government e-marketplace (GeM) for supplies, has spurred Goa into action. Procurement of IT requirements along with stationary and other planned consumables through the Union ministry of commerce and industry’s Flipkart-styled e-commerce website can lead to 30-40% savings and the state is now actively considering the proposal.

“This is the second time that the PM has asked states to go through GeM for procurement. A meeting was held yesterday and the proposal is in active consideration,” a senior bureaucrat said while speaking to TOI on condition of anonymity.

Modi has urged all chief secretaries of states and Union territories to procure government supplies from the GeM

portal

as it “boosts transparency, besides supporting enterprise at the local level”.

Government officers said that before Goa inks an memorandum of understanding (MoU) with portal and commences procurement, it will have to ensure that local retailers and suppliers register with the e-marketplace. “Some outreach to local vendors by the government will be required,” an official said.

The portal was launched in August 2016 for online purchases of goods and services by all central government ministries and departments. In addition to central government departments, as many as nine states, including Uttar Pradesh and Telangana have signed a MoU for smart procurement of goods and services for their state departments.

Sources said that several state departments, including that of finance, were reluctant to adopt the GeM platform as Goa already had “efficient e-tender process”.

“There are two options before the state. One recommendation is to move all urgent procurements to the GeM platform. It will be quicker. The second way to do it would be to have a loop from the e-tender portal to the GeM platform,” a state government official involved in the deliberations said.

As on September 28, 32,435 sellers are registered with the portal to sell 1,72,439 products with transactions worth Rs1,506.81 crore completed. Four services, including tax, security, digitisation and scanning are also available through the portal.

IT products form a large chunk of government procurement and is the most expensive component for departmental expenditure on supplies. According to data put out by the Union ministry, bulk purchasing on the portal could fetch prices that are 30-40% lower than market rate.

In 2011, the state government decided to implement an e-procurement and e-tendering process through a portal for all departments and corporations. The e-tender process is applicable for all procurement worth more than Rs 5 lakh and is managed by Info Tech Corporation of Goa Limited.


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