Public procurement portal Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in order to help MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Women Self Help Groups and various loan beneficiaries under MUDRA and Stand-up India scheme, according to a government press release.

The MoU signed in New Delhi aims to enable promotion of special initiatives of GeM, such as Womaniya and Start-up Runway, with SIDBI stakeholders.

GeM Startup Runway is an initiative to align certified startups and MSMEs with government procurement orders and contracts, and enable small businesses in scaling operations from ideation to growth stage in minimal time. It also seeks to spur hyperlocal job creation and wealth generation, and achieve socially-inclusive economic growth.

"GeM and SIDBI will take steps to ensure payments within a guaranteed timeframe to sellers, enhance working capital availability through bill discounting and control NPAs through control of end use," the press release read.

Talleen Kumar, CEO, GeM, said, "[The] partnership with financial institutions like SIDBI is necessary in GeM’s journey towards outreach to MSMEs, startups and artisans who can now also sell to the Government on an open, transparent, and technology-driven platform."

GeM also seeks to empower these sellers by making on-time payments through auto-debiting GeM Pool Account and providing working capital by giving the choice of bill discounting to MSMEs.

GeM is a public procurement portal for direct selling to Central and State government departments and PSUs. The portal grossed over Rs 23,000 crore worth of sales through over 17 lakh transactions in 2018-19. 

42 percent of these transactions, sorted by volume, were done with MSMEs registered on the platform.

2018-19 witnessed a four-fold increase in total value of transactions on the portal and a two-fold increase in the number of sellers on GeM.

Published On : 30-08-2019

Source : SMB Story