Lok Sabha Question No. 758 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-21
Subject: Purchases Made through GeM
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 758 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21 st  NOVEMBER, 2016

## PURCHASES MADE THROUGH GeM

## 758.  SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाͨणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंğी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the items earlier on Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) rate contract and now on Government e-market (GeM) place are procured mostly not on GeM but  against  the  rate  contract  concluded  by  other  government  agencies  like  National Informatics centre services Incorporated (NICSI) and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of items along with the rates where rates on GeM are/were more than DGS&D rates/popular e-commerce sites like Amazon/Snapdeal/ Flipkart;
- (c) the details of purchases of computer made on GeM by Jharkhand Court from treating only one  eligible  supplier  despite  the  fact  that  numbers  of  known  computer  brands  are available in country and the reasons therefor; and
- (d) whether rates of computers purchased by Jharkhand Court on GeM were higher than the rate contract of DGS&D and if so, the details thereof indicating the increase in percentage along with the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a) &  (b):  Government  e-Marketplace  (GeM)  is  a  new  initiative  of  Government  launched  in August  2016.  GeM  is  expected  to  bring  more  transparency  and  efficiency  in  public procurement as it is a completely online and end-to-end procurement portal with simplified and automated processes for vendor and buyer registration, product/service listing, contract placement & management and time-bound payment to vendors. Since it is a marketplace, it provides a platform for dynamic pricing along with tools for Bidding & Reverse Auction as against static & long term pricing on NICSI and DGS&D Rate Contract. The rates on GeM are found to be more competitive in comparison between the rate listed  under GeM, NICSI and Rate Contract has been done in few select Goods and Services in the following table and it could be seen that the rates offered in GeM based on actual order are lesser than NICSI and Rate Contract. Further, rates offered in GeM are dynamic in nature.

| Items                                        |   GeM rate in Rs. | DGS&D/NICSI Rate Contract/Tender in Rs       | Savings%   |
|----------------------------------------------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------|------------|
| LI UPS(.8KVA)/168 VAH                        |              3060 | 3659(RC Rate)                                | 19.57      |
| LI UPS(1)/168 VAH                            |              4043 | 4278 (RC Rate)                               | 5.81       |
| Hiring of Swift Dzire taxis on monthly basis |             28000 | 32500 (Tender rate)                          | 16.07      |
| Laser jet printer                            |              7348 | 8643 RC Rate 11234 NICSI Rate(3 yr warranty) | 15/34.6    |
| Photo copier Machine                         |             97000 | 152250 (RC Rate)                             | 56.95      |
| Pass Book Printer                            |             20890 | 23312 NISCI rate                             | 10.4       |

The current prices on e-commerce sites are made available on GeM portal for the benefit of the buyers to establish price reasonableness. However, precise comparison cannot be done on  account  of  different  terms  &  conditions  on  GeM  and  e-Commerce  sites.  It  has  been invariable noticed that when buyers have gone for Bidding or Reverse Auction, the prices obtained are much lower than the e-Commerce sites. Buyers are encouraged to go in for Bidding/RA in order to derive maximum benefits.

- (c): Jharkhand High Court procured 699 numbers of Intel i3 based Desktop Computers Model  No.RC-31-Dell  Optiplex  3040  MT  and  233  numbers  of  Intel  i5  based  Desktop Computers Model No. RC-35-Dell Optiplex 3040 MT through GeM. Jharkhand High Court had taken prior approval of the competent authority for purchasing these specific models of Dell make Desktop computers through GeM.
- (d): The Desktop Computers purchased by Jharkhand High Court were not available on DGS&D  Rate  Contract.  The  Desktop  computers  available  on  GeM  and  purchased  by Jharkhand High Court were of superior 6 th Generation  processor  as  against  4 th generation processor  of  Dell  make  available  on  DGS&D  RC.  Nevertheless,  the  GeM  prices  for  the purchased computers were same as that of the 4 th Generation computers on DGS&D RC.

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