New Delhi, February 25 (HS): Government e-marketplace (GeM) celebrated the completion of 6 years of e-transactions (SWAYATT) initiative through the benefit of startups, women and youth at its New Delhi headquarters on February 19. The cumulative number of Udyam-verified women micro and small enterprises (MSEs) on this portal is 1,77,786, which have completed cumulative orders of Rs 46,615 crore. 8 percent of the sellers registered on the e-marketplace are women entrepreneurs.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement issued on Tuesday that the e-marketplace (GeM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Ladies Organization (FICCI-FLO) on the occasion of completion of six years. Through this partnership, GeM aims to provide women entrepreneurs direct access to government buyers without any intermediaries, to ensure better product pricing, promote faster employment generation at the local level and promote inclusive growth. It is a pan-India forum representing over 9,500 women entrepreneurs.
GeM Chief Executive Officer (CEO) L. Satya Srivinas said that at the time of launch of the SWAYATT initiative, there were only 6300 women-run enterprises and about 3400 startups on GeM. Since then, the platform has grown manifold. Srinivas said, By addressing the challenges of access to market, access to finance and access to value-addition through appropriate e-market linkages in public procurement, GeM has enabled startups to complete orders worth Rs 35,950 crore. Women entrepreneurs account for 8 per cent of the total seller base on GeM, which includes a total of 1,77,786 Udyam-verified women micro and small enterprises (MSEs) registered on the GeM portal, who have completed cumulative orders worth Rs 46,615 crore.
This initiative, launched on February 19, 2019, was conceptualised with the clear objective of promoting the participation of women-led enterprises and youth in public procurement. With an ambitious target of onboarding one lakh startups registered by the Department of Industrial Promotion and Internal Trade on this portal, GeM is determined to become a vibrant startup ecosystem in public procurement. Through meaningful collaboration and capacity building efforts with last mile women micro and small enterprises (MSEs), FPOs, SHGs, startups and cooperatives, GEM aims to double the number of women entrepreneurs on the portal and increase their share in the country’s total procurement from the current 3.78 per cent.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
