Abstract

The core of the Indian economy is made up of MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises). An improvement in MSMEs’ performance will help to boost the economy as a whole. The Government e Marketplace (GeM) is an online platform for public procurement in India. The Government of India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched the GeM initiative on August 9, 2016, with the goal of giving government buyers access to an open and transparent procurement platform. By introducing new Rule Number 149 to the General Financial Rules, 2017, the Ministry of Finance has authorized and mandated purchases made by government users through GeM. In this article, an attempt is made to provide an overview of the Government of India’s initiatives to empower MSMEs through GeM, to evaluate how well MSMEs are using the GeM platform and to investigate the application of GeM’s Public Procurement Policy for MSEs. GeM has brought about a significant revolution in government offices’ public procurement practices over the past seven years. From the Buyer and Seller’s registration in GeM to the sale through GeM, it has consistently grown. The Government has made a number of efforts to enable MSMEs, startups, and women entrepreneurs to enter and compete with other suppliers in GeM. These new initiatives, especially through GeM, have benefited a great deal of people, and there will undoubtedly be a surge in the number of startups and MSMEs in GeM in the upcoming years. Convenience sampling method and structured questionnaire technique was used to collect the primary data. Kendall’s tau-b, Chi-Square Tests, Frequency and Percentage analysis were used to analyse the data collected. The study shows that 72.5% of the respondents opine that GeM platform has helped in increasing their sales, majority of the respondents benefited from exemption from tender fee and EMD. It is seen that 72.5% of the respondents face the difficulty of price and margin pressure in GeM due to the huge competition. There is a significant association between type of enterprise and exemption benefit from tender fee, earnest money deposit, bidder turnover and experience. Further the study suggests that the government should lead campaigns in local languages to educate sellers about the GeM portal and also make GeM portal registration mandatory for MSMEs at the time of Udyam registration.

Authors

L. Cesis Dastan, K. Jegatha, V. Bala Kumar
Presidency College, India

Keywords

GeM, MSME, Public Procurement Policy for MSEs