Govt e-Marketplace can become India's Amazon, says Goyal

New Delhi, A futuristic plan for India's own e-commerce portal are afoot as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said that he imagines the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to become such a platform on the lines of Amazon and Flipkart to sell Indian products.

In his address at the closing ceremony of "India International Co-operative Trade Fair" (IICTF) here on Sunday, Goyal said that he has plans for the GeM portal which can be opened up for private businesses and private sector.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) facilitates online procurement of common use goods and services required by various government departments and PSUs and aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.

Goyal said that GeM can become India's own e-commerce portal on the lines of Amazon and Flipkart which can sell products which are made in India, heritage and traditional products and products from the co-operative sector.

The GeM portal can become an outlet in the country and abroad for swadeshi goods from India, he said, in the context of providing a wider market for co-operative products. He also mentioned that the 6,500 railway stations can have a transparent process for having stalls for co-operatives.

Mentioning airports and bus stands as similar avenues, the Minister said that possibilities should be explored to see if the new malls that are coming up can be made to offer space at discounted rates for a co-operative or handicrafts corner.

Referring to the scam in the PMC Bank in Mumbai, Goyal said that some bad apples are bringing a bad name to the co-operative sector and there is a need for a self regulatory mechanism. He called for whistleblower action with regard to scams in the co-operative sector and said that it is unimaginable that a scam like PMC where depositors lost money could have been done without the involvement of a number of people.

He called for discipline and professionalism in the co-operative sector so that such scams do not happen which are putting a question mark on the sector.

The Minister expressed happiness that the foot fall at the IICTF has been more than 35,000 and there were more than 4,000 trade enquires, with business of more than Rs 7000-8000 crore transacted.

Stating that there should be an International framework for expansion of the co-operatives, Goyal gave ideas on how indigenous and ethnic products produced by co-operatives can be marketed on e-commerce platforms.