The Ministry of Coal in India has significantly increased its online procurement of goods and services through the Government eMarketplace (GeM), reaching Rs 28,665 crore as of October 15 in the current financial year. This marks a remarkable increase from the Rs 477 spent in the fiscal year 2021. When combined with non-GeM procurement, the total procurement by the coal ministry reached Rs 39,607 crore as of October 15 in the financial year 2024.

The Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) have shown substantial growth in their utilization of the GeM platform for procuring goods. The proportion of total procurement through GeM has increased significantly, rising from 0.49 percent to 72 percent over the given period.

The procurement of services from GeM increased from Rs 94.85 crore in fiscal year 2021 to Rs 26,954 crore in the current fiscal year. Similarly, the procurement of goods has risen from Rs 382 crore in 2020 to Rs 2,643 crore in fiscal year 2023.

Notably, in fiscal year 2023, the Ministry of Defence was the largest purchaser of goods from Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) via GeM. The ministry nearly doubled its online procurement compared to the previous fiscal year, making purchases worth Rs 28,732.9 crore, marking a 90.4 percent increase from the Rs 15,090.8 crore spent on goods and services in fiscal year 2022.

As of October 20, data from the GeM platform indicates that goods and services worth Rs 1.84 lakh crore have been procured, with an order volume of 28.61 lakh across 11,861 products and 311 service categories. The platform boasts over 1 lakh primary buyers and over 1.95 lakh secondary buyers, with MSEs accounting for 48.78 percent of the order value. This trend indicates a significant shift towards online procurement in India's coal sector.