“Is public procurement slow to adopt AI in India”

[admin]

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Is public procurement slow to adopt AI in India

[A B M Aljaber Hirok]

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The interesting research question is therefore not whether e-procurement exists, but how Bangladesh can responsibly move from e-GP → data analytics → AI-assisted procurement → potentially AI-enabled procurement, while maintaining transparency, competition, accountability, human oversight and compliance with PPA/PPR.

[Partha Pratim Sengupta]

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The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is now a very large digital procurement ecosystem. By August 2026, it had crossed ₹20 lakh crore cumulative GMV and 3.78 crore orders. GeM says it uses AI/ML and analytics for detecting suspected cartelisation, collusion, order splitting, abnormal pricing and other anomalies.

So it would be inaccurate to say “Government procurement in India has not adopted AI.”

[DR. SUKHVINDER JIT SINGH]

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yes

[Ashutosh Kr. Tripathi]

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India is not behind in recognizing the value of AI in procurement—efficiency gains in pilot studies show execution time reductions of up to 50% and higher compliance tracking. However, scale-up remains slow because public agencies prioritize risk mitigation, regulatory compliance, and audit safety over rapid technology adoption. Until formal governance and accountability frameworks for AI-assisted public procurement are codified, deployment will remain focused on supportive tools rather than automated decision-making.

[Ramanathan Venkatakrishnan]

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Considering the complex business models taht prevailing in India and the users knowledge about the AI and its concepts obviously it will look like Public Procurement is slow to adopt AI in India but in reality the fundamental process of data collation is already progressed well, especially after the implementation of Gem (Government eMarket place) by the Government for procuring goods and services by various Government entities across the country.

[BALAJI R]

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The question “Is public procurement slow to adopt AI in India” requires a balanced assessment. The answer is both yes and no. India is not slow in adopting digital procurement, but it is relatively slow in moving toward AI-enabled procurement when compared with emerging global best practices in North America and Europe.

Public procurement is one of the largest economic activities undertaken by governments. According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), public procurement in India accounts for approximately 20% to 22% of the country’s GDP. With India’s nominal GDP exceeding ₹350 lakh crore, the annual procurement market is estimated to range between ₹70 lakh and ₹77 lakh crore. Against this backdrop, the ability of public systems to utilize AI for efficiency, transparency, and risk management is profoundly significant.

India has made remarkable progress in digitizing procurement. Platforms such as the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP), and state e-procurement systems have transformed traditional paper-based workflows into electronic systems. The success of GeM is particularly noteworthy, having recorded a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of ₹5.43 lakh crore in recent fiscal terms, with cumulative procurement since inception crossing ₹18 lakh crore.

However, basic digital procurement should not be confused with AI-enabled procurement. Most Indian portals focus primarily on electronic tender publication, bid submission, vendor registration, and reverse auctions. While these features enhance transparency, they do not inherently make procurement intelligent. Among domestic platforms, GeM leads in AI integration, deploying machine-learning use cases across its lifecycle for price intelligence, anomaly detection, and marketplace integrity. GeM has intervened in numerous abnormal product listings and utilized AI-driven scrutiny to remove thousands of non-compliant catalogues, alongside introducing GeMAI to assist users.

Despite these breakthroughs, AI adoption across the broader public ecosystem remains limited. Systems like CPPP and state-level portals primarily focus on transactional digitization rather than predictive analytics or automated compliance.

Crucially, AI adoption is not merely a platform issue; the role of procurement personnel is vital. Officers can significantly enhance efficiency through AI-assisted tender drafting and data parsing while waiting for large-scale ERP modernizations. International experiences from Europe and the USA show that Western systems focus heavily on data standardization, risk monitoring, and treating AI as a “copilot” for procurement professionals.

Ultimately, India is digitally mature yet moderately AI-enabled. Platforms like GeM prove the potential of AI, but wide gaps remain across state and local frameworks. Integrating AI into platforms, ERPs, and day-to-day personnel workflows can unlock massive public savings and transparency.

[Ch. Anil Kumar Patro]

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AI adoption in public procurement in India appears slower than its potential. One reason is understandable: procurement is governed by transparency, accountability and strict procedural requirements, where even a small error can have significant consequences. However, AI need not replace the procurement officer or take decisions. Its real value could be in making the officer better informed—by quickly analysing past prices, supplier performance, market trends, tender conditions and procurement history, while identifying anomalies, risks and opportunities. The objective should be simple: let AI handle the information overload, so that procurement professionals can focus on judgement, negotiation and accountability. A cautious but purposeful shift towards AI-assisted, human-controlled procurement could make public procurement faster, more transparent and more data-driven without compromising its fundamental principles.

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