GeM Trains IDAS Probationers to Strengthen India’s Digital Procurement System

Addressing the participants, Shri Mihir Kumar, CEO, GeM, underscored the indispensable role of digital procurement in strengthening India’s governance structures.

The Government e Marketplace (GeM), under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, successfully organised a full-day orientation programme titled “GeM – Transforming Public Procurement in India” for probationers of the Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS). The training was held at the GeM Office in New Delhi and formed part of the probationers’ departmental attachment with the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) Headquarters.

GeM’s Role in Modern Governance

Addressing the participants, Shri Mihir Kumar, CEO, GeM, underscored the indispensable role of digital procurement in strengthening India’s governance structures. He highlighted that GeM is not merely a procurement portal—it is a strategic enabler of transparency, accountability and data-driven decision-making.

Kumar emphasized that Defence Accounts professionals, who oversee financial integrity and procurement compliance within the armed forces, are uniquely positioned to accelerate the adoption of technology-driven procurement reforms across the Defence sector. He encouraged the young officers to view digital systems as catalysts for efficiency, competitiveness and public value creation.

Detailed Orientation Sessions by GeM Specialists

Throughout the day, GeM’s vertical heads and domain experts conducted targeted sessions covering the end-to-end public procurement lifecycle. Key components included:

• Core procurement concepts and best practices

• Understanding common buyer challenges and GeM-enabled solutions

• Compliance norms, policy frameworks and audit readiness

• Incident management, grievance redressal and support mechanisms

• Live, hands-on demonstrations of the GeM portal’s workflow and tools

The interactive format enabled probationers to clarify operational issues, explore use cases and understand how digital procurement reduces delays, human errors and procedural inconsistencies.

Exposure to India’s Evolving Procurement Ecosystem

A total of 17 IDAS probationers from the 2024 Batch participated in the programme. The visit provided them with practical insights into India’s rapid transformation toward digital, paperless and fully traceable public procurement.

The session also familiarised participants with:

• GeM’s governance standards, including product cataloguing, vendor validation, and automated contracting tools

• Platform-driven enhancements that have boosted transparency, accountability and competition across ministries

• Technology reforms such as real-time dashboards, analytics-based oversight and user-centric design improvements

The orientation is expected to help young Defence Accounts officers integrate these digital procurement practices into Defence establishments, where procurement volumes and compliance requirements are among the highest in the government ecosystem.

Commitment to Capacity Building

GeM reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Defence institutions through structured training programmes, long-term capacity-building initiatives and collaborative knowledge exchange. By equipping new officers with strong digital procurement capabilities, GeM aims to strengthen India’s public financial management architecture and ensure that procurement in the Defence sector remains efficient, transparent and future-ready.