New Delhi, Sep 14 : The Ministry of Defence has emerged as the leading ministry amongst a total of 56 ministries and departments participating in the Government eMarketplace (GeM), holding the top position in both order value and order quantity. Ministry of Defence said that since its inception, the Ministry has contributed significantly to the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of GeM, which has reached an impressive Rs 73,225.30 crore as of September 12, 2023. The Defence Ministry official said that in the current financial year, the procurement through GeM has already reached an impressive Rs 18,790.60 crore as of 12 September. The order value of the Ministry in fiscal year 2022-23 was Rs, 28,732.90 crore, while it amounted to Rs 15,091.30 crore in the fiscal year 2021-22. Under the aegis of the Department of Defence Production, the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) had sold Goods and Services worth Rs 2,642.66 crore on GeM in FY 2022-23, MoD official added. The official said that the significant milestone of procuring goods and services worth over Rs 18,000 crore, underscores an outstanding average daily order value of Rs 109 crore in the current financial year. The remarkable achievement in the current fiscal results from the active participation of more than 19,800 buyers across the country, collectively placing over 3 lakh orders. The Ministry of Defence's contribution to the overall GMV of GeM has consistently remained strong, standing at approximately 15 per cent since its inception and increasing to 16 per cent for the current financial year. Furthermore, since inception, out of the 17,026,945 orders placed on GeM, the MoD has played a significant role, accounting for nearly 28 per cent of a total of 4,761,585 orders, the defence ministry official said. According to the MoD, the GeM was started in August 2016 to revamp the old tender process and bring greater probity and transparency in government procurement through digitisation. In the last seven years since its inception, the MoD has been committed towards the digital drive. The MoD's impressive procurement through GeM underlines the platform's effectiveness and efficiency in facilitating transparent and streamlined procurement operations. The widespread embrace of GeM by various defence entities further underscores its success in simplifying and enhancing the overall procurement landscape, the official added. /IANS