India, Jan. 31 -- New Delhi

Delhi's finance department has issued a circular stating that 54 departments and offices in the government have not appointed Government e-Marketplace (GeM) nodal officers or submitted mandatory monthly procurement reports, despite repeated instructions given through the centralised online portal.

The GeM is an online procurement platform of the Union government designed to bring transparency and efficiency to government purchases by enabling direct procurement from listed vendors. The Delhi government had earlier announced that all its departments would carry out procurements through GeM, except in specified cases, in order to streamline purchasing and reduce intermediary involvement.

In the January 29 circ...