Scientists hampered by dearth of quality research equipment in government’s e-Marketplace

While the Ministry of Science and Technology has announced its intent to galvanise research in India through the National Research Foundation Bill, 2023, scientists say that the mandatory procurement via Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a major stumbling block, impeding the sourcing of equipment and materials necessary for research.

While the Ministry of Science and Technology has announced its intent to galvanise research in India through the National Research Foundation Bill, 2023, scientists say that the mandatory procurement via Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a major stumbling block, impeding the sourcing of equipment and materials necessary for research.

Several researchers told The Hindu — on condition of anonymity as they are not permitted to speak to the media — that while the GeM process is useful for mass-manufactured products, it does not help in the procurement of specialty chemicals, niche biological products, and customised hardware and software.

GeM – an initiative of the Commerce Ministry - was introduced to give Indian Medium Small and Micro Enterprises a relative advantage over foreign suppliers of products, and to promote the government’s Make in India initiative. “What actually happens is that the system is littered with vendors, who source the lowest quality of components, aggregate it and (by virtue of being registered as an Indian vendor) quote a lower price, and we’re forced to buy it,” said a scientist affiliated to a prominent Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratory. “It can take months to procure, or if the equipment is faulty, return and claim a refund. There is also no system of blacklisting an errant supplier,” the scientist added.

While the GeM has been in force since 2017, scientific organisations were exempt from the mandate until 2019. This meant they could continue to invite bids after setting out requirements, or reach out to known suppliers. While it is still possible to directly reach out to a foreign vendor if needed, the individual scientists must show that they tried to procure the product on GeM and were unsuccessful.

“This entire process can take months. An experiment often means several parts or chemicals must be available at the right time, else it can’t be done. That means results cannot be quickly generated and papers can’t be published,” said another scientist affiliated with a prominent Central University.

A senior official in the Ministry of Science and Technology said that, following several complaints, scientific departments were again permitted a “degree of relaxation” from the mandate. “They still must show that they were unsuccessful at GeM. Except that now, a request to procure from a specific vendor can be cleared by the Secretary of the Department instead of the Expenditure Secretary in the Ministry of Finance,” the official said.

The GeM has “…over 66,000 government buyer organisations and more than 58 lakh sellers and service providers offering a diverse range of goods and services,” according to a February statement by the Press Information Bureau. “The portal features over 11,000 product categories with more than 29 lakh listed products, as well as over 270 service categories with more than 2.5 lakh service offerings. Based on various studies, the minimum savings on the platform are about 10%, which translates into a savings of over ₹ 30,000 crore worth of public money,” it added.