New Delhi, Feb 14 (PTI) Procurement of goods and services by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) through public buying platform GeM has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, with about half of it coming in the current financial year.

The Government e-Market (GeM) portal was launched on August 9, 2016, for online purchases of goods and services by all central government ministries and departments.

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"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," a commerce ministry statement said on Wednesday.

It 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," GeM Chief Executive Officer P K Singh said.

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He added 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... 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," he said.

Furthermore, 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.

Currently, government departments, ministries, public sector units, state governments, and central armed police forces are allowed to carry out transactions through this portal.

The portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles.

Automobiles, computers, and office furniture are some of the major product categories.

Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, webcasting, and analytical, are listed on the portal.

South Korea's KONEPS is the largest such platform in the world. Currently, GeM stands at the third position after KONEPS and Singapore's GeBIZ.

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