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The Union Cabinet on Wednesday has decided to include cooperatives in the government e-marketplace portal (GeM).
With this move, apart from the government, cooperatives can also procure through the GeM portal. "Objective of GeM portal is inclusion, efficiency and transparency. The cooperatives will get a platform to sell their products if they are included in the GeM. It has been seen that businesses have seen growth through the portal," said Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, adding that the move will help over 8.54 lakh registered cooperatives and their 27 crore members "After opening the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) portal, Self-Help Groups, MSMEs, and small businessmen have benefitted a lot. Different PSUs, ministries, depts, autonomous bodies, or local bodies of the government started buying from the GeM portal", said the Union Minister. According to Thakur, business through GeM has grown from 6,220 crores in 2017-18 to one lakh six thousand crores in 2021-22. "GeM works on inclusion, transparency and efficiency. Artisans, weavers, SHGs, startups, women entrepreneurs and MSMEs are registered on GeM. If you look at accounting for the last four years, procurement of Rs 6220cr in 2017-18 hiked to over Rs 1.06 lakh cr in 2021-22," said Anurag Thakur. The GeM portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles-- automobiles, computers and office furniture are currently the top product categories. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM), an online platform for public procurement, was launched by the Commerce Ministry, in August 2016 with the objective of creating an open and transparent procurement platform. When asked about ED notice to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, the Union Minister said, "Government agencies do their work." (ANI)
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