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The commerce ministry has said that procurement of goods and services by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) through public buying platform Government e-Market (GeM) portal has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, with about half of it coming in the current financial year (FY24). From procurement of general store items like eggs to missile systems and critical defence acquisitions, GeM has helped MoD execute more than 5.47 lakh orders. Of this, transactions worth around Rs 45,800 crore have been awarded in the current financial year.

Furthermore, it said the engagement of Defence PSUs on the GeM platform has not only facilitated procurement but has also facilitated sales. Since its launch in 2016, the procurement through GeM has scaled up at a faster pace. The procurement of goods and services from the government portal GeM will cross Rs 4 lakh crore by the end of this fiscal due to higher buying activities by various ministries and departments. So far this fiscal, the procurement has crossed Rs 3 lakh crore. GeM has over 63,000 government buyer organisations and over 62 lakh sellers and service providers offering a wide range of products and services. 

GeM Chief Executive Officer P K Singh said the defence ministry is the first central government entity to cross this figure, exemplifying its resolute commitment towards optimising public spending in the Defence sector. He said that around 50.7 per cent of the total orders, amounting to Rs 60,593 crore, have been awarded to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) by the Defence ministry entities, including defence-related public sector enterprises. Since its (GeM) inception, the ministry has been an early adopter of GeM. He added that the ministry has made an astounding accomplishment by surpassing the Rs 1 lakh crore mark in terms of total order value transacted through the GeM portal.