From pens to cars, Noida, Greater Noida authorities make purchases from e-market

Hundreds of products including stationery items, computers, media accessories, electrical and electronic gadgets, toiletries, furniture, fabrics, automobile, cutlery, printers, scanners, biometric identification equipment, etc from www.gem.gov.in.

Purchase of any moveable article by the Noida and Greater Noida authorities will be made from the government e-market instead of the open market here on, officials said.

Over 200 officials of the Noida authority and Greater Noida authority on Friday underwent a training to make such purchases. (Sunil Ghosh /HT Photo)

Until now, tenders were issued for procuring office equipment and other utility items by the two industrial development authorities. The authority officials associated with the tendering process are often accused of committing irregularities by awarding tenders to favourable parties.

“There will be no such allegations in the purchase of any movable article, from a pen to a car, from now. The two authorities will buy them from the government portal to bring transparency in the purchase of movable articles,” Deepak Agarwal, the chief executive officer of Noida and Greater Noida authorities, said.

Hundreds of products including stationery items, computers, media accessories, electrical and electronic gadgets, toiletries, furniture, fabrics, automobile, cutlery, printers, scanners, biometric identification equipment, reference software, water purifiers, dustbins, sanitary ware and firefighting equipment, among other items, are available on the government e-market — www.gem.gov.in.

Agarwal said that the government portal will not only end the scope for corruption in making purchases, but it will also save time by doing away with tenders. “It (making purchases) will take less time and will ensure transparency. GeM will be like any other e-commerce website. Seventy six government institutions are already purchasing goods from the government e-marketplace,” he said.

Agarwal said that one nodal officer each in Noida authority and Greater Noida authority will be responsible for making purchases through GeM.

Over 200 officials of the Noida and Greater Noida authorities were also trained to use the e-market by Government of India officials on Friday at the Indira Gandhi Kala Kendra auditorium in Sector 6. “All heads of departments, project engineers, officials of the administration and finance departments working in the two authorities attended the session,” said Agarwal.