Discuss the role of digital public procurement platforms like GeM in promoting transparency, efficiency, and inclusiveness in government spending.

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM), launched in August 2016, completed a decade of operation on 9 August 2026 with cumulative Gross Merchandise Value crossing ₹20 lakh crore across 3.78 crore orders [1]. It demonstrates how digital public infrastructure can make government purchasing open, economical and socially inclusive.

Transparency

• Rule-based mandate: Rule 141-A inserted in GFR 2005 created GeM; Rule 149 of GFR 2017 made procurement through GeM mandatory for Central Ministries where items are available [2] — replacing discretionary, fragmented manual tendering with an open catalogue.
• Public price discovery: sellers with completed profiles rose from 3,339 to 25.45 lakh, and buyer organisations from 1,707 to 1.37 lakh [1]; wider competition narrows scope for collusion and favouritism.

Efficiency

• An IIT Delhi study estimated ₹1,76,411 crore in net social savings for FY 2023-24 to FY 2025-26, with monetized benefits of ₹86,571 crore [1].
• The study found GeM prices averaging 74.3% lower than competitor benchmarks and 13.6% spend-weighted savings, with 92% buyer satisfaction [1].
• Scale gains are compounding: annual GMV grew from ₹422 crore (FY 2016-17) to over ₹5 lakh crore in FY 2024-25 [3].

Inclusiveness

• MSEs fulfilled orders worth ₹9.07 lakh crore — 45.6% of cumulative GMV, deepening market access for small firms [1].
• 2.24 lakh women-led MSEs executed over 50 lakh orders worth ₹99,147 crore, and 42,242 startups secured ₹65,633 crore [1] — embedding affirmative procurement into routine spending.

Limitations

• Managing 1.37 lakh buyers and 25.45 lakh sellers strains quality assurance, payment timelines and grievance redressal.
• Adoption remains uneven across States and local bodies, and satisfaction metrics are self-reported.

GeM shows that digitising procurement simultaneously advances integrity, savings and equity rather than trading one for another. Deeper onboarding of States and PSUs, independent audit of claimed savings, and faster seller grievance redressal would consolidate these gains — positioning GeM alongside UPI as mature digital public infrastructure [4] and advancing fairness in state contracting under Article 14 and SDG 16's goal of accountable institutions.