GEM Stands for “Government E-Marketplace”. It is an online platform owned by Central Government of India. Government launched this platform (GEM Portal) to facilitate their procurement under one roof. Through GEM Portal various government departments including PSU’s initiate their procurement process.

GEM Portal is an integrated online platform which works between supplier and recipient of goods & services. Here on GEM Portal, government and their departments is recipient and Indian businessmen are supplier. To start selling your product online, seller must be registered with GEM portal i.e. a registered vendor can participate in procurement process.

The government advertises requirement on GeM portal and Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) for procurement of goods & services and give invitation to sellers to apply tenders. Such invitation is compulsorily required to be made on GEM Portal if value of goods or services exceeds from 25 Lakh. However when value goods or services is less than 25 lakh then recipient can opt for limited tender inquiry where only limited vendors can apply for such procurement.

Once seller is registered on GEM portal then such vendor can apply for ongoing bids. For every bid, supplier is required to submit his bid within allowable time. Such allowable time varies according to the wish of recipient who is inviting Bid. After closure of bidding period, recipient evaluate each bid and select the bidder. Further registered seller can also list their product on GEM portal for direct sales to government bodies. Government body can buy any item or avail services from GEM portal if value of transaction is less than 50,000.

The main objective of the GEM is to ensure transparency, efficiency and promptness in the procurement of supplies to government and government departments. Through this process physical documentation has been reduced and transparency has been increased, as any registered supplier can participate in bid and can be selected for procurement if provided lowest cost along with meeting other conditions/criteria.

Registration on GEM portal is completely online however an inspection will be carried out at the premises of supplier by government’s authorised agency.  A complete set of documents will be required to submit application.

A different set of documents will be required for different kind of seller i.e. Proprietor, Partnership, LLP or Company.  Here is list of required documents for each class of seller:

For Proprietor:

• Pan Card
• Aadhaar Card
• GST Certificate
• Bank Account no along with IFCS Code (copy of Cancelled cheque)
• Udhyog Aadhaar certificate if any
• Email ID and Mob no.
• Alternate Mob and Email ID
• Copy of ITR for last 3 years (not required if busiess less than 24 months old)
• Proof of registered office

For LLP and Company:

A part from document required for proprietor following additional documents will be required:

• Copy of board resolution for authorising a person to file GEM registration application
• Certificate of Incorporation (for company and LLP) and Partnership Deed( for Partnership)
• Pan and Aadhaar of Authorised person

• Transparency
• Less paper work
• Real time access to information relating to bids
• Single platform for multiple government departments.
• Special benefit to Startups
• Direct sales to government without bid if transaction value is less than 50,000.
• Timely payment commitment
• Flexibility to change price (other than bid)