New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday said that  transactions on the government’s e-marketplace (GeM) will reach $ 100 billion in next three years.

The minister said that GeM should consider allowing private companies to buy goods and services from the portal.

Currently, only government departments and public sector units are allowed to procure goods and services from this platform. The ministry launched GeM in 2016 with the objective of creating an open and transparent procurement platform for the government.

Mr Prabhu said that the GeM should now think of expanding its scope to increase the volumes of goods and services traded.

“I feel that we should now think of expanding the scope of GeM. One thing I would like GeM to do is that today private companies can register but the buyer is only government. To make sure that this expands even more, we would like to see that even private companies can buy,” he said.

He also said GeM can think of permitting an individual also to buy products from the platform. GeM CEO Radha Chauhan said besides different central ministries, state governments and public sector units are procuring goods and services from this platform.

It is mandatory for central government departments to procure through GeM. Some 25 states and UTs have signed MoU to adopt it.