GeM to Add Rate Contracts & Global Tendering

New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is working to soon include rate contract and global tendering functionalities on the public procurement portal in a bid to enhance its flexibility and competitiveness, a senior official said on Monday.

At present, these features are not on the GeM portal.

While the global tendering functionality would enable participation from international suppliers or overseas vendors, the rate contracts will allow government buyers to buy goods and services at pre-negotiated prices over a specified period, reducing need for repeated bidding.

"We are working to add these features," GeM CEO Mihir Kumar told reporters here.

He also said that they are exploring ways to bring works on the platform with an aim to further widen its scope.

Currently, only goods and services providers are registered on the GeM portal, which was launched in 2016 for online purchase of goods and services by all central government ministries and departments. It is mandatory for them to procure goods and services from the portal.

Works include road and building construction, and setting up of big plants and other facilities. Currently, the facility for procuring these works is not available on the GeM platform.

Further, the platform is looking at facilitating transactions worth Rs 7 lakh crore in 2025-26. It was Rs 5.42 lakh crore in 2024-25.

At present, 40-50 per cent of annual procurement is happening through this portal.

"We will focus on states this year. We have to increase the footprint of states," Kumar said, adding the platform now boasts over 1.64 lakh primary buyers and 4.2 lakh active sellers, offering more than 10,000 product categories and over 330 services.

He added that from Rs 5,000 crore worth of equipment for the Akash Missile System to Rs 5,085 crore in vaccine procurement, GeM is powering national priorities at scale.

The platform is also facilitating specialized services such as drone-as-a-service for AIIMS, GIS and insurance solutions covering over 1.3 crore lives, and wet leasing of chartered flights and CT scanners, underscoring its adaptability and growing relevance in complex, mission-critical procurements.

GeM has been adopted across all 36 states and Union Territories. Total eight states - Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh - have mandated GeM use.