How do I sell on GeM?

An easy way to get direct orders from government departments and sell your products to various government ministries and departments is by registering on the Government eMarketplace or GeM portal. This online procurement portal has over 40,000 government departments as registered buyers interested in buying products from registered sellers. To sell on GeM you need to be registered as a seller on GeM.

If your question is who can sell on GeM portal, the right answer would be, any of the registered businesses on GeM can start selling on the portal. All manufacturers (OEM), service providers and suppliers can register on GeM.

The GeM portal is currently merged with the Central Public Procurement Portal for the creation of a Unified Procurement System. As such, apart from selling on GeM, users can also find and apply for winning tenders on GeM.

How to sell on GeM portal?

GeM portal hosts over 38 lakh sellers and service providers who are registered on the portal to find new business contracts and purchase orders.  There are two ways you can sell your products and services on GeM portal:

• By participating in tenders
• Through direct purchase orders

To know how to sell on GeM, let us explore each of these methods in detail.

Participating in government tender on GeM portal

Registered sellers can participate in government tenders published on the GeM portal.  To participate in a government tender on the portal follow these steps:

1. Login to GeM
2. Click on ‘Bids’ option on the homepage
3. Choose ‘List of Bids’ from the dropdown menu. A list of active bids will appear.
4. Go to the search bar on the top right corner and locate the filter by option next to it.
5. Choose from filter by ‘Bid number’ or filter by ‘Item’.
6. Choose filter by ‘Bid number’ and enter the number. This will take you directly to the tender. You can press the ‘Participate’ button given against the tender to submit your bid.
7. Choose filter by ‘Item’ then you will get a list of bids seeking to procure the selected item.
8. Clicking on ‘Participate’ button will take you to bid submission page.

Given below is an example of how a bid invitation on GeM portal will look like:

Contract No: GEMC- 511687725966278				Status of the Contract: Waiting for Order Acceptance
Organisation Type: Central PSU Organisation Name: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd	Ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Office Zone: Petroleum House			Department: NA
Buyer Designation: Operations Officer Contract Date: 15/3/2023 15:38	Buying Mode: Bid/RA Total: ₹ 283200.000			Bid Number: GEM/2023/B/3024492
Product		Brand	Model		Ordered Quantity	Price
TYPHOON Fixed Stand Post With water/foam barrel with aspirating type Jet and Fog Pattern Advance Fire Monitor (Fire Sprinkler Systems)		TYPHOON	Water cum Foam Monitor 500-750 GPM		2	₹ 283200.000

Source: GeM website (https://gem.gov.in/)

Direct purchase orders on GeM

Direct purchase orders on GeM enables buyers to buy products/services of value up to ₹25000 which meet the requisite quality, specifications and delivery period through any of the available sellers on GeM.

If you are a seller on GeM who has already uploaded products/services on the GeM portal, you might already be receiving purchase order notifications in your GeM account. You can view these notifications by clicking on the orders tab on the home page. This will take you to a page that will show you the purchase orders that your company has received.

If these purchase order notifications are not relevant to your company’s products, you can reject them. Once you accept the purchase orders that you are interested in you will have to fill in information about the consignment. After accepting the order, click on the view details. Here you will be able to fill in details of the consignment along with the tax incurred on the purchase order and generate an invoice for the consignee.

Contract No: GEMC- 511687746190730				Status of the Contract: Waiting for Order Acceptance
Organisation Type: Central Autonomous Organisation Name: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)	Ministry: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Office Zone: Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi			Department: Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE)
Buyer Designation: Assistant Administrative Officer Contract Date: 15/3/2023 17:49	Buying Mode: Direct Total: ₹ 22500.000
Product		Brand	Model		Ordered Quantity	Price
KVPL 20 Kg Capacity Cotton Cloth Bags for Seed Packing 77 cm X 49 cm (LxW)		KVPL	20 Kg Capacity Cotton Cloth Bags for Seed Packing		500	₹ 22500.000

Source: GeM website (https://gem.gov.in/)

Advantages of selling on GeM portal

GeM portal was launched by the Government of India in 2016 for easy procurement of goods and services from Indian businesses. They even introduced a policy that can improve the chances of small businesses winning government tenders.

Here are a few advantages of selling on GeM portal:

• Receive direct purchase orders on GeM for amounts up to ₹25000.
• Direct access to all government departments.
• No need for product and model registration.
• You can sell your products according to your specifications, no customisations required.
• Only minimal marketing efforts are required.
• Products are free from regular consignment inspection testing and other evaluation procedures.
• Prices of your products can be changed according to market conditions like raw material price hikes.
• Timely payment is guaranteed.
• Online grievance redressal mechanism for quick resolution

Products/services sold on the GeM portal

These are the products that are currently being sold on GeM:

• IT Products – Desktop computers, laptop notebooks, computer printers, and tablet computers
• Automobiles – Buses, tractors, cars and utility vehicles
• Furniture – Class room desking, executive table, revolving chair and movable file storage system
• Medical Products – Alcohol based hand sanitiser, surgical gloves as per IS 4148 and disposable syringes as per IS 10258,
• Stationery items – Diaries printed plain registers, gel pens and Maplitho paper
• Electrical appliances – Led luminaire, Molded Case Ciruit Breakers (MCCB) and telecommunication cable
• Electronic equipment – Television and domestic refrigerators
• Textile Products – Handloom cotton bed sheets and cotton towels as per IS 7056
• Pipes and Fittings- Steel tubes, tubulars and fittings and commercial CPVC pipe fittings

There are many services being offered by sellers on GeM. Here are a few:

• 3D printing service
• Cyber security service
• Data and voice service
• Energy efficiency service
• Event management service
• Hiring of chartered aircrafts
• International logistics and custom clearance service
• Logistics and warehousing services
• Market survey service
• Operation and maintenance of products, plants and machinery
• Professional painting service

For more information and support about this procurement portal you can contact the GeM portal customer care. The portal has a well-equipped contact centre that supports both inbound and outbound customer communications. You can get in touch with them via telephone, chat, email and social media.