10/04/2026
The hardest problem in MSME lending was never credit risk.
It was trust infrastructure.
A seller with a confirmed Government purchase order is arguably one of the most creditworthy borrowers in the country. The order exists. The buyer is the Government of India. The payment will come.
And yet — for years — that seller couldn't unlock a single rupee against that order to actually fulfil it.
This is the problem GeM Sahay was built to solve. And it's a genuinely remarkable piece of financial infrastructure when you understand what's actually happening under the hood:
→ Real-time, digital, pre-shipment lending
→ On the basis of a live Purchase Order
→ With repayment held in escrow by the Government itself
→ Zero collateral. Entirely paperless.
To my knowledge, this is the only product of its kind in the world for B2B lending at this scale.
I've had the honour of working with the Government e Marketplace (GeM), ProductNation/iSPIRT, OCEN and Perfios Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Shreshth Vats in helping build and shape this ecosystem from the early days — and watching it evolve has been one of the most intellectually rewarding experiences of my career.
This was a conviction of Sharad Sharma, who is a man with a mission and OCEN team of Rahul Bhaik Sagar Parikh. Ravi Modani
Today, with State Bank of India and SIDBI(Small Industries Development Bank of India) formally onboarding as lenders, the ecosystem is entering a new chapter.
At 121 Finance Pvt. Ltd. Finance, we've been here since the beginning —
and have had the privilege of being the largest lender on GeM Sahay. The numbers are still early-stage for a market this large, and that's precisely the point: ₹7.5+ Crore across 2,200+ loans to 300+ MSMEs is a proof of concept that the model works — the repayments, the trust, the plumbing — before the real scale begins.
OCEN was always a thesis about moving credit to where MSME commerce happens. GeM Sahay is proof that it can.
More lenders. Faster access. Zero collateral.
GeM is expanding access to finance like never before.
With SBI & SIDBI joining the GeM Sahay ecosystem, financing is now quicker and more seamless than ever.
Scale your business without barriers.
Activate GeM Sahay on your seller profile to get started.
*All data as on 31st March, 2026.
State Bank of India Axis Bank IDBI BANK 121 Finance
GetVantage Small Industries Development Bank of India