Thegovernment e-Marketplace (GeM), a public procurement portal, on Wednesday signed an MoU with Federal Bank to offer different services, including transfer of funds.
The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless and transparent payment system on the portal, and would create an efficient procurement system for government entities, the commerce ministry said in a statement.
The bank will offer a number of services, including transfer of funds through GeM pool accounts, advising of performance bank guarantees and earnest money deposit, to the registered users on the portal.
It said that GeM is also working with banks, and SIDBI to provide bill discounting and financing of working capital where the cost of capital is linked to the performance and rating of a seller.
"This will help the sellers in general and MSMEs in particular to access easy credit and do better business with the government," it said.
The commerce ministry launched the procurement portal GeM to increase transparency in public procurement of goods and services, which is estimated at about Rs 8 lakh crore per year.
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West Bengal-cadre IAS officer Talleen Kumar was recently appointed as the new chief executive officer of GeM.
About 3 lakh sellers and service providers have registered with the portal so far to sell over 13 lakh products and over 17,000 services.
The government has made it mandatory for all government departments and ministries to source goods and services from its e-marketplace.
The portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles. Automobiles, computers and office furniture are currently the top product categories.
Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, web casting and analytical, among others, are listed on the portal.