From Cost to Compliance: India’s Facility Management Procurement Reset

India’s procurement landscape is undergoing a decisive reset. The old L1 playbook — where the lowest bidder took all — is giving way to boardroom-led strategies that weigh compliance, resilience, and real sustainability alongside cost. SEBI’s BRSR mandates have pushed ESG from a marketing footnote to a governance metric. Water scarcity, supply chain shocks, and rising client scrutiny are forcing facility management and housekeeping leaders to rethink how, what, and from whom they buy.

To capture this shift, Clean India Journal spoke to three procurement leaders shaping the next era of FM sourcing. Pankaj Kaushal, CFO of GroupL Services Pvt. Ltd, unpacks how TCO models and digital procurement are busting the “green is costly” myth, and why a unified Indian certification framework is now critical. Mohammed Ziaulla, GM – Operations at Service Care Limited, explains how data, IoT, and supplier transparency are driving hygiene outcomes and ESG accountability across workplaces. Ankur Sachdev, CEO, Tenon FM, reveals how procurement is evolving into a strategic business enabler —where EcoVadis scores, AI-powered analytics, and smart cleaning tech define preferred partnerships.

Despite different portfolios, their insights converge on five themes. One, green procurement is a boardroom mandate, not branding. Two, Total Cost of Ownership trumps purchase price, with concentrated chemicals, IoT assets, and predictive maintenance delivering long-term savings. Three, digitalisation is non-negotiable — spend analytics, supplier dashboards, and real-time tracking control leakages and emissions. Four, fragmentation and inconsistent standards remain the biggest barriers to scaling genuine sustainability. Five, suppliers must now pitch business solutions, not products: prove ROI, show certifications, save water, and strengthen BRSR compliance.

Together, these conversations map an industry in transition— from transactional buying to value-driven sourcing that protects people, planet, and P&L. For India’s FM and housekeeping ecosystem, the message is clear: Resilience beats low cost, and the winners will be those who balance digital agility, local sourcing, and verifiable green credentials.

Also Read –

• Procurement Is Becoming a Strategic Business Enabler
• Green Procurement Goes Boardroom: Data, ESG Reshape Indian FM
• Beating Cost Myths: Certified Green Procurement Delivers Real ROI
• Beyond the Stated Requirement How DTSS Transformed a Soft Services Discussion into a Scalable Solution