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The government’s online public procurement platform, Government e-Marketplace (GeM), has “weeded out” several sellers after it was established through the scrutiny of the shareholding patterns of the entities that they were from China, government officials have said.
GeM is also set to launch its revamped lending scheme — GeM Sahay 2.0 — to provide collateral free loan of up to ₹10 lakh to sellers on acceptance of their order on GEM platform. It hopes to do so at competitive interest rates, which may be as low as 10 per cent, by roping in PSU banks, according to GeM CEO, PK Singh.
A rigorous exercise
After the Finance Ministry came out with its notification imposing restrictions on public procurement from countries which share a land border with India in 2020, GeM has disqualified several sellers during its vendor verification process, Singh pointed out at a media briefing on Wednesday. “This has to be a very rigorous exercise. So we look into the shareholding pattern to see if there is a land border sharing country and then remove/disqualify them,” he said.
Categories that were severely impacted, where Chinese footprint were detected, include laptop, desktops and medical devices, Singh added.
The verification process was being further improved so that there could be alerts in case there was a change in the shareholding pattern of a seller after it is approved.
From October 3, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will become GeM’s new technology partner, the CEO said.
On fast lane
On GeM Sahay 2.0, Singh said that it will follow the philosophy of right loan to right person at cost effective rate in least possible time. It seeks to provide loan coverage of up to ₹10 lakh to all sellers, and not just sole proprietors, in flat ten minutes times, at interest rate of below 10 per cent (from existing 14 per cent).
Extending its reach to empower last-mile buyers, GeM has also partnered with CSC-Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLE) for hassle-free facilitation of Panchayats on GeM. Further, GeM has integrated with eGramSwaraj for seamless procurement of products and services by Panchayats through GeM.
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