New Delhi: Government e-Marketplace or GeM, a dedicated procurement portal for Central and State governments and other public sector undertakings has the same products listed at a cheaper price than the prices for the same product on two e-Commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart, said the Economic Survey tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday.
In order to compare the price of the same products available on the GeM portal and other online platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart, an analysis was conducted and its results were included in last year’s Economic Survey. Last year’s analysis had shown that the same products listed on the GeM portal were on average 3% cheaper than the price of the same products on other e-Commerce platforms.
This year, too, the Economic Survey conducted the same price comparison. And for a close comparison, samples of the same commodities as selected last year were used this year as well. And where the exact commodity was not available, the newly available models were chosen.
“While in last year’s analysis, GeM prices were on average 3 per cent lower when compared with other platforms, this time it is around 9.5 per cent lower for the chosen sample. 10 out of 22 commodities in the sample were cheaper on the GeM portal as compared to other platforms,” said the survey.
For example, according to the data table given in the economic survey, Samsung Basic 43 inch LED Backlit LCD Television (Model SAMSUNG DC43J) with a maximum retail price of Rs 49,069 was available on the GeM portal for an offer price of Rs 40,000 with a five-year warranty. The same television set was sold on Amazon with an MRP of Rs 69,000 and with an offer price of Rs 43,900. The survey said the same TV set was cheaper by Rs 3,900 or 9.75% on the GeM portal.
Similarly, another widely used commodity in government offices, an HP laserjet printer was available on the GeM portal with a better warranty period than the warranty given on Amazon.
The Survey showed HP LaserJet Enterprise M507dn printer with an MRP of Rs 81,780 was available on the GeM portal at an offer price of Rs 69,005 with a 3-year warranty, whereas the same product was sold on Amazon with same the offer price but shown with a higher MRP of Rs 82,450 and the warranty was for only one year as against three-year warranty offered on the GeM portal.
Prices at GeM portal cheaper by 9%: Survey
In order to bring down the cost of procurement of government departments and public sector companies, the government had set up a dedicated online portal in 2016, where any vendor or supplier can register but the procurement can only be done by the government departments and public sector entities.
The idea was to provide a dedicated e-Marketplace for public sector buyers for the purchase of certain standard day-to-day use goods. This is a simple, transparent and completely digital process for procurement.
The Economic Survey said that the anecdotal evidence suggests that prior to GeM, government procurement prices were much higher than the prices prevailing in the market and there were constant complaints about inefficiency and rent-seeking.
“The use of this e-marketplace has resulted in a substantial reduction in prices in comparison to the rates used earlier, with average prices falling by at least 15-20 per cent, and up to 56 per cent,” it stated.
The General Financial Rules 2017 mandates that all ministries and departments will procure goods and services available on GeM from GeM and not from any outside vendor.
