Eco Survey says government e-marketplace beats Amazon and Flipkart on discounts

The economic survey made a comparison of the prices of various products on the GeM portal with those on the companies’ websites or other online platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart.

For a close comparison, a sample of the same products selected last year is used whenever possible. In cases where the exact product was not available, newly available models were chosen.

While in last year’s analysis, GeM prices were on average 3% lower than other platforms, this time they are around 9.5% lower for the chosen sample.

According to the survey, 10 of the 22 commodities in the sample were cheaper on the GeM portal compared to other platforms.

The economic study noted that anecdotal evidence suggested that prior to GeM, public procurement prices were much higher than prevailing market prices and that there were constant complaints about inefficiency and seeking to pension.

“Using the e-marketplace has resulted in a substantial reduction in prices from rates used previously, with average prices dropping by at least 15-20%, up to 56%.”

In 2016, the government had set up a dedicated e-marketplace known as the Government e-Marketplace for purchasing certain standard daily-use goods.

The 2022-23 economic study was tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha today, while the budget will be presented tomorrow at 11am.

The survey details the state of the different sectors of the economy as well as the reforms that should be undertaken to accelerate growth.