Technology for MSMEs: Sellers have been warned that for products already listed on GeM, the Country of Origin should be updated, failing which those products shall be pulled down from the marketplace.
The government has been promoting ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ through the GeM portal.Technology for MSMEs: Amid growing chorus in India to ban import and use of Chinese goods, the government on Tuesday made it mandatory for sellers to mention the Country of Origin to sell goods on its Government e-Marketplace (GeM). Moreover, sellers have been warned that for products already listed on GeM, the Country of Origin should be updated, failing which those products shall be pulled down from the marketplace.
Along with the ‘Country of Origin’ feature on the GeM portal, sellers would also have a provision to indicate the local content percentage in products, Commerce Ministry said in a statement. This will be visible to buyers for all items on the marketplace. Also, the portal has enabled the ‘Make in India’ filter for buyers even as they can choose products that meet the minimum 50 per cent local content criteria.
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While GeM has announced these steps to promote PM Modi’s call for Atmanirbhar Bharat, it also comes amid consumers’ growing resentment for Chinese goods following the recent border backlash between the Indian and Chinese armed forces. According to a survey by LocalCircles, having more than 32,000 responses from citizens across 235 districts in India, 87 per cent said that they are willing to boycott buying of Chinese goods for the next one year. Moreover, 97 per cent said that they will boycott the purchase of major Chinese brands including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo etc. and 39 per cent said they won’t buy new products but will use what they have.
The Commerce Ministry added that buyers will be able to reserve any bid for Class I local suppliers (local content more than 50 per cent). For bids less than Rs 200 crore, only Class I and Class II local suppliers (local content more than 50 per cent and more than 20 per cent respectively) would be eligible to bid even as Class I supplier will get purchase preference.
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