New Delhi, Mar 24 (IANS): Online public procurement platform Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has attained an annual procurement of Rs 1 lakh crore within FY 2021-22, an official statement said on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the sum represents a 160 per cent growth compared to last FY.

In a short span of 5 years, GeM has become one of the biggest government e-procurement platforms in the world, it said.

Addressing media on the occasion, GeM CEO Prashant Kumar Singh said that since inception, the cumulative Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) has reached Rs 1 lakh crore over four and half years, on March 23, 2021, whereas the GMV of GeM in the current financial year surpassed Rs 1 lakh crore in less than a year.

Besides, the number of orders has surpassed 31.5 lakh in the current financial year with a growth at the rate of 22 per cent.

Referring to the share of Central Public Sector Enterprises, Singh said that approximately Rs 43,000 crore worth procurement was done by them on GeM, showing an approximate growth of 508 per cent as compared to last FY.

He also said that states continued to be an important stakeholder with approximate 30 per cent contribution to total GMV.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about this accomplishment.

The online platform initiative was launched on August 9, 2016 with an objective to create an open and transparent procurement platform for government buyers. Created in five months, GeM facilitates online procurement of common use goods and services.