New Delhi, Nov 4 (Agency) Ahead of the upcoming cropping season, the Government e-marketplace (GeM) has introduced 170 seed categories on the portal. In a media release on Monday, GeM said that the newly populated categories feature nearly 8,000 seed varieties that can be procured by PSUs and other governing bodies for further dissemination across the country. “Created after consultation with stakeholders including state seed corporations and research bodies, seed categories on GeM portal offer a ready framework for seed procurement, incorporating the extant rules & regulations by Government of India and necessary parameters, easing the entire process for procuring authorities,” it said.
GeM said that rolling out of these new categories is a part of its broader strategy to promote category based procurement through the portal. With an emphasis on increasing efficiency, category based procurement of seeds aims to reduce time consumed in tendering processes, stimulate transparency and accountability in government procurement, while facilitating increased participation of sellers across the country. “We invite sellers to leverage these new seed categories and list their offerings to participate freely in government tenders. We also encourage seed corporations/state bodies to utilise these new categories for cost-effective procurement of quality seeds” said Roli Khare, Deputy CEO, GeM.