Over 2 Lakh Women Entrepreneurs Register on GeM Womaniya Portal

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) announced that more than 200,000 women-led Micro and Small Enterprises have registered on its Womaniya portal as of April 2026. The platform, launched in March 2023 to give female entrepreneurs better access to government procurement contracts, processed over 13.7 lakh orders during the 2025-26 financial year. This represents a 43 percent increase in order volume compared to the previous year, when the platform handled 9.6 lakh transactions.

GeM is India's primary online marketplace for government departments and public sector organizations to purchase goods and services. Total procurement through the platform reached 4.06 lakh crore rupees in FY 2025-26. Women-owned businesses accounted for approximately 8.2 percent of this volume, up from 5.1 percent two years ago. The Womaniya initiative was designed to close the gap between male and female participation in government contracting, which historically favored larger, male-led firms.

What Womaniya offers to sellers

The Womaniya portal provides several features tailored to women entrepreneurs. Registered sellers receive priority listing in search results when government buyers browse for products or services. They also gain access to a dedicated helpdesk that handles registration issues, payment delays, and technical problems within 48 hours, compared to the standard five-day resolution time for other sellers.

Training programs are another component. GeM has conducted over 320 workshops since 2023, teaching women business owners how to navigate the platform, prepare bids, and fulfill orders according to government specifications. These sessions cover topics like quality certification requirements, invoice submission protocols, and how to respond to buyer queries. Participants reported that the workshops reduced their average time to complete their first successful transaction from 28 days to 11 days.

Which products and services sell most

Office supplies dominate sales on Womaniya, accounting for 34 percent of total orders. This category includes stationery, furniture, cleaning products, and cafeteria supplies. Textiles and garments follow at 19 percent, driven by demand from police departments, hospitals, and educational institutions that purchase uniforms and linens in bulk. IT hardware and accessories make up 14 percent, with government offices buying laptops, printers, and networking equipment.

Service contracts represent a smaller but growing segment. Women-led firms secured 2.8 lakh service orders in FY 2025-26, including facility management, catering, event organization, and digital marketing. The average contract value for services was 1.7 lakh rupees, higher than the 68,000 rupees average for product orders. This suggests that women entrepreneurs are moving into higher-value segments as they gain experience with government procurement processes.

Geographic distribution of registered sellers

Maharashtra leads with 28,400 registered women-owned businesses on Womaniya, followed by Tamil Nadu with 24,100 and Uttar Pradesh with 22,700. These three states account for 37 percent of all registrations. Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, and West Bengal each have between 15,000 and 18,000 registered sellers. Smaller states like Goa, Sikkim, and Tripura collectively contribute fewer than 3,000 registrations.

Rural participation remains limited. Only 18 percent of Womaniya sellers operate from rural areas, despite rural regions being home to nearly 65 percent of India's population. GeM attributes this disparity to challenges like limited internet connectivity, lower digital literacy, and difficulties meeting quality certification standards that many government contracts require. The platform has partnered with the Ministry of Rural Development to establish 150 digital resource centers in villages, though these facilities are still in the pilot phase.

Payment timelines and financial impact

GeM processes payments within 10 days of delivery confirmation for 87 percent of orders placed through Womaniya. This is faster than the average payment cycle for general sellers, which stands at 14 days. Quicker payments help small businesses manage cash flow, particularly those operating on thin margins or relying on working capital loans.

The total value of transactions by women-led enterprises on GeM reached approximately 33,200 crore rupees in FY 2025-26. This figure includes both Womaniya registrations and women entrepreneurs selling through the general platform. Breaking this down, the average annual revenue per registered seller was 16.6 lakh rupees, though this varies widely by business size and product category. A survey conducted by the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in late 2025 found that 62 percent of Womaniya sellers reported revenue growth of at least 20 percent after joining the platform.

Barriers that still exist

Despite the growth, many women entrepreneurs face obstacles. Quality certifications like ISO standards or Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) approvals can cost between 50,000 and 2 lakh rupees, which is prohibitive for micro-enterprises. Some government tenders also require bidders to demonstrate prior contract completion worth a minimum value, creating a catch-22 for newcomers who lack this experience.

Another issue is competition from larger firms. While Womaniya gives priority visibility, it does not restrict male-owned or larger businesses from bidding on the same contracts. Price often determines the winner, and bigger companies can afford to bid lower due to economies of scale. GeM has not implemented set-asides or quotas for women-led enterprises, unlike some state procurement systems that reserve a percentage of contracts for specific demographic groups.

What comes next for the platform

GeM plans to add multilingual support for Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi by September 2026 to make the platform more accessible to non-English speakers. The organization is also developing a mobile app specifically for Womaniya sellers, allowing them to manage orders, upload invoices, and communicate with buyers without needing a computer.

The Ministry of Commerce is considering subsidies to help micro-enterprises obtain quality certifications. If approved, the program would cover up to 70 percent of certification costs for businesses with annual revenues below 50 lakh rupees. No timeline has been set for this proposal, as it requires budget allocation and coordination between multiple government departments.