Womaniya Initiative | 24 Nov 2025

Source: PIB

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM), and UN Women have signed an MoU under the Womaniya initiative to boost women entrepreneurs’ participation in public procurement and advancing SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

Womaniya Initiative

• About: Launched in 2019, the Womaniya initiative on GeM supports women entrepreneurship by helping women-led MSEs, SHGs, artisans, and marginalized women sell directly to the government. 
• Objective: Addresses the triple challenge faced by women entrepreneurs-access to markets, access to finance, and access to value-addition.
  • It also supports the goal of reserving 3% of government procurement for women-owned businesses.
• Scale & Impact: According to the Udyam Registration Portal, women-owned MSMEs make up 20.5% of all MSMEs, contribute 18.73% to employment, and account for 11.15% of total investment.

GeM

• About: GeM, launched in 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce, is an online platform that Central and State Government Ministries, Departments, PSUs, and related bodies use to procure goods and services. 

  • It is operated by the GeM Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a fully government-owned, not-for-profit entity. 

  • It is now adopted in all 36 States and UTs, with Uttar Pradesh leading and eight states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Assam, mandating its use.
• Objective: It aims to promote transparency, efficiency, and fairness in government procurement, reducing delays and curbing corruption, with independent assessments like the World Bank noting nearly 10% cost savings.
• Inclusivity: It empowers over 10 lakh MSEs, 1.3 lakh artisans and weavers, 1.84 lakh women entrepreneurs, and 31,000 startups in the GeM ecosystem.
  • Also, GeM has introduced GeMAI, India’s first generative AI-powered public sector chatbot, with voice and text support in 10 Indian languages.