About GeM 

• Launched in 2016, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a 100 percent government-owned company setup under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 
• It is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface. GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
• GeM was developed with the technical support of the National eGovernance Division under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

• In 2017, the government made it mandatory for all the departments and ministries to source goods and services from the GeM. 

Why in News?

• The Government e-Marketplace (GeM), the public procurement portal, is suitably placed to exceed its ambitious target of ₹ 1.75 lakh crore.
• As on February 1st 2023, GeM has achieved a staggering ₹ 1.5 lakh crore of Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in FY23 alone. 
• Cumulatively, GeM has surpassed the ₹ 3 lakh crore GMV since inception. The total number of transactions on GeM has also crossed 1.3 crore. 
• GeM has over 66,000 government buyer organisations and more than 58 lakh sellers and service providers offering a diverse range of goods and services. 
• The portal features over 11,000 product categories with more than 29 lakh listed products, as well as over 270 service categories with more than 2.5 lakh service offerings. 
• Based on various studies, the minimum savings on the platform are about 10%, which translates into a savings of over ₹ 30,000 crore worth of public money.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1897442