Commerce ministry starts e-marketplace for goods procurement

In Indian Affairs
July 21, 2016

The Commerce Ministry has launched an e-marketplace for online purchase of goods and services by various central government ministries and departments.

The move is aimed at bringing in more transparency and streamlining the government procurement of goods and services. The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) has developed the portal for the purpose. The department, which is under the Commerce Ministry, carries out the procurement.

To bring in transparency, the DGS&D has worked on it very hard. The Department of Electronics and IT has also played a very big role in this. What they have done is to start with on those regularly purchasable items which the various government departments will need. They are just putting it on their portal,” Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told .

she said if one wants a particular specification of a computer, various brands and specifications are available at the portal with cost.

Through this portal all the government departments and ministries can procure goods. the prices are going to be there, it is for you to say how many units you want.

This would help aggregate demand which will lead to lower prices, better choices and faster procurement. E-commerce is a fast growing industry in the country. According to a study, e-commerce market is likely to grow 10-fold in next five years to reach USD 100 billion on the back of increasing penetration of Internet, smartphones and spread of digital network in rural areas.

Nirmala Sitharaman

Nirmala Sitharaman was born on 18 August 1959 is an Indian politician from the state of Tamil Nadu.

presently serving as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, as well as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs under the Ministry of Finance headed by Arun Jaitley.

She attained a A. degree from Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College, Tiruchirappalli and an MA degree in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1980 followed by a Ph.D in the Indo-European textile trade within the GATT framework and MPhil.

Nirmala Sitharaman joined Narendra Modi’s ministry in May 2014. Until then, she was working as a part of a team of six spokespersons headed by Ravi Shankar Prasad, for Bharatiya Janata Party.