Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a historic step in ease of doing business as the Centre and States can procure quality products and services from sellers throughout India. <br/><br/>Ms Sitharaman said this after inaugurating the National consultative workshop on GeM in New Delhi today. She said, transparency and openness are crucial in public procurement to strengthen co-operative federalism. The Minister also said, around 20 to 30 percent of cost can be reduced through GeM.<br/><br/>Speaking on the occasion, Director General, DGS&D, Binoy Kumar said, presently 5,000 Government departments and users are using GeM which now has 50,000 quality products and services.<br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports, Secretaries and officials from states and Union Territories, such as Andra Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Gujarat and Telangana have exchanged MoUs with the Commerce and Industry Ministry for better facilitation of GeM in their states.