GeM crosses ₹20 lakh crore procurement milestone at 10 years
Synopsis
GeM has crossed ₹20 lakh crore in cumulative procurement just as it turns 10 — and the speed of the last ₹10 lakh crore, added in under two years versus eight for the first, tells the real story. With MSEs accounting for nearly half of all GMV and an IIT Delhi study crediting the platform with ₹1.76 lakh crore in net social savings, GeM is no longer just a digitisation project — it is the structural spine of India's public procurement.
Key Takeaways
GeM completes 10 years of operations on 9 August , having processed over 3.78 crore orders worth more than ₹20 lakh crore .
Annual GMV grew from ₹422 crore in FY17 to more than ₹5 lakh crore in FY26 ; FY27's first four months alone logged ₹1.48 lakh crore .
The second ₹10 lakh crore in cumulative GMV was added in under two years , versus over eight years for the first.
MSEs fulfilled orders worth ₹9.07 lakh crore — 45.6% of total GMV; women-led MSEs completed over 50 lakh orders worth ₹99,147 crore .
42,242 startups secured government contracts worth over ₹65,633 crore through the platform.
An IIT Delhi study found GeM delivered a net social saving of ₹1.76 lakh crore and offered lower prices than rival e-marketplaces for 74.3% of products tested.
The Government e-Marketplace (GeM), the Centre's digital public procurement platform, is set to mark 10 years of operations on 9 August, having facilitated cumulative transactions exceeding ₹20 lakh crore across more than 3.78 crore orders since its launch in 2016. The milestone was announced by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Friday, underscoring the platform's transformation from a modest pilot into the backbone of government purchasing in India.
A Decade of Growth in Numbers
GeM's annual Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) has grown from a modest ₹422 crore in FY17 to more than ₹5 lakh crore in each of FY25 and FY26. In the first four months of FY27 alone, the platform recorded a GMV of ₹1.48 lakh crore, pointing to an accelerating adoption curve.
Notably, while GeM took over eight years to reach its first ₹10 lakh crore in cumulative GMV, it added the next ₹10 lakh crore in under two years, according to its regulatory filing — a compression in timelines that reflects both growing buyer uptake and a widening seller base.
Seller and Buyer Participation Surges
The platform's ecosystem has expanded sharply. Profile-completed sellers have grown from 3,339 at inception to 25.45 lakh, while primary buyer organisations have increased from 1,707 to 1.37 lakh. Registrations by Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) have climbed from 2,424 to 12.25 lakh over the same period.
Inclusive Procurement: MSEs, Women Entrepreneurs, and Startups
GeM has positioned itself as a channel for inclusive government contracting. MSEs have fulfilled orders worth more than ₹9.07 lakh crore, accounting for 45.6% of the platform's cumulative GMV. Women-led MSEs have completed over 50 lakh orders valued at more than ₹99,147 crore, while 42,242 startups have secured government contracts worth over ₹65,633 crore through the marketplace.
IIT Delhi Study: Social Savings and Price Advantage
An independent study by IIT Delhi, covering FY24 to FY26, found that GeM generated a monetised benefit of ₹86,571.69 crore through improvements in pricing and procurement processes, yielding a net social saving of ₹1.76 lakh crore. The study further found that GeM offered lower prices than other e-marketplaces for 74.3% of the 101 products examined, translating into a spend-weighted saving of 13.6%.
What Comes Next
With GMV momentum accelerating and buyer-seller participation at record highs, GeM enters its second decade as the dominant infrastructure for public procurement in India. The platform's ability to sustain price competitiveness, deepen MSE integration, and expand into newer government tiers — district and panchayat levels — will determine whether it can consolidate these gains structurally.
Point of View
But the more telling data point is the compression in timelines — the second ₹10 lakh crore arrived in under two years, suggesting GeM has crossed a network-effect threshold. Yet scale alone does not guarantee quality: the platform's price-competitiveness claim rests on an IIT Delhi study of just 101 products, a narrow sample for a marketplace handling millions of SKUs. The MSE and startup numbers are politically useful, but the absence of outcome data — whether these contracts translated into sustained business growth — limits the claim that GeM is genuinely transforming small-enterprise economics rather than just routing existing government spend through a new channel.
NationPress
7 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and when was it launched?
GeM is the Centre's official online public procurement platform, launched in 2016 to digitise government purchasing and improve transparency. It connects government buyers with sellers across categories ranging from goods to services.
What is the ₹20 lakh crore milestone GeM has crossed?
GeM has facilitated cumulative transactions exceeding ₹20 lakh crore across more than 3.78 crore orders since its inception in 2016. The milestone was announced as the platform prepares to mark its 10th anniversary on 9 August .
How fast has GeM grown in recent years?
GeM's annual GMV crossed ₹5 lakh crore in both FY25 and FY26 , up from just ₹422 crore in FY17 . The platform added its second ₹10 lakh crore in cumulative GMV in under two years — compared to over eight years for the first.
How have MSEs and startups benefited from GeM?
MSEs have fulfilled orders worth over ₹9.07 lakh crore , representing 45.6% of total GMV. Women-led MSEs completed more than 50 lakh orders worth ₹99,147 crore , and 42,242 startups secured contracts worth over ₹65,633 crore through the platform.
What did the IIT Delhi study find about GeM's impact?
An IIT Delhi study covering FY24 to FY26 found that GeM generated a monetised benefit of ₹86,571.69 crore through better pricing and procurement processes, yielding a net social saving of ₹1.76 lakh crore . It also found GeM offered lower prices than other e-marketplaces for 74.3% of 101 products tested, with a spend-weighted saving of 13.6% .
