September, 2026.- Cleaning has gone beyond being just a maintenance activity into something more significant—a way of value creation. Unmesh Subhash Patil, General Manager & Professional at Kärcher India, explains that businesses today are interested in three factors: high hygiene and brand image, environmentally sustainable operations, and speed and efficiency of cleaning processes. High levels of hygiene serve as the most important signal about quality and brand prestige. Companies strive for a smaller environmental impact by asking for solutions that consume less water and chemicals. And business facilities need efficient cleaning procedures that maintain high operation performance standards without disruptions.
In this interview, Patil discusses how Kärcher India helps businesses make the switch to high-performing mechanized solutions providing tangible ROI. For instance, their hot water high-pressure cleaners enable saving up to 35% of time compared to cold water models, while significantly decreasing chemical usage. Moreover, Kärcher machines follow the principle of a circular economy—over 90% of the material in their machines can be easily recycled.
On technology and automation, Patil notes that the most revolutionary innovation is the merging of ergonomic hardware design and IoT fleet management. The EASY!Force trigger gun reduces the force needed to hold it to zero, making tasks easy to perform without fatigue. Kärcher Fleet connects scrubber driers and sweepers to digital dashboards to help facility managers track performance, battery life, and uptime. The future is Collaborative Autonomous Cleaning (Cobotics), seen in KIRA (Kärcher Intelligent Robotic Applications) products like the KIRA B 50 autonomous robotic scrubber drier.
On building awareness in a functional category, Patil emphasizes “Show, not tell.” They conduct time-and-motion studies right on-site in client businesses, proving that their KM 70/20 sweeper cleans six times quicker than conventional methods.
Professional cleaning is moving beyond being a “largely functional requirement.” What specific changes in business priorities—hygiene, sustainability, operational efficiency—are driving this shift, and how is Kärcher India responding?
Cleaning has gone beyond being just a maintenance activity into something more significant – a way of value creation. Today, businesses have become interested in three factors:
- High Hygiene & Brand Image: High levels of hygiene serve as the most important signal about quality and brand prestige for both customers and guests.
- Environmentally Sustainable Operations: Companies strive for a smaller environmental impact by asking for cleaning solutions that consume less water, use less chemicals and come with environmentally sustainable production process.
- Speed & Efficiency of Cleaning Processes: Business facilities require efficient cleaning procedures that keep high operation performance standards without any disruptions to normal operations.
How Kärcher India is meeting the challenge: We give businesses an opportunity to make the switch to high-performing mechanized solutions providing tangible ROI. For instance, our hot water high-pressure cleaners enable saving up to 35% of time needed when using cold water models, while significantly decreasing the number of chemicals used for the cleaning procedure. Moreover, Kärcher machines follow the principle of a circular economy – over 90 percent of the material in our machine can be easily recycled by our clients to achieve high sustainability standards in their corporations without compromising cleaning speed.
You’re focused on technology-led and automated cleaning solutions. What’s the single most impactful technological innovation in professional cleaning in the last few years, and what’s the next frontier?
The most revolutionary innovation is the merging of ergonomic hardware design and IoT fleet management.
Operational efficiencies rely heavily on user comfort. Our EASY!Force trigger gun for high-pressure washers takes advantage of the recoil force of the high-pressure jet to reduce the force needed to hold it to zero, making the task easy to perform without fatigue. On the other hand, software such as Kärcher Fleet connects our scrubber driers and sweepers to digital dashboards to help facility managers track their performance, battery life, and uptime.
The Future of Cleaning: Collaborative Autonomous Cleaning (Cobotics). The development of this can be seen in KIRA (Kärcher Intelligent Robotic Applications) products such as the KIRA B 50 autonomous robotic scrubber drier. With its high capacity lithium ion batteries and advanced navigation system with multiple sensors, KIRA moves efficiently across vast floor surfaces allowing facilities to get perfectly clean floors and free up the staff for more difficult tasks.
Businesses need to balance hygiene, productivity, operational efficiency, and sustainability. How does Kärcher help clients achieve all four without compromising any of them?
We show our customers how sustainability and productivity work together – energy saving decreases operational expenses.
We integrate this principle into our machinery via our eco!efficiency design approach. In our professional scrubbers driers (for example BD and BR lines), activation of eco!efficiency mode helps us reduce energy and water consumption while preserving the best possible cleaning performance. We design our equipment based on lightweight, durable materials, which have minimal number of elements to decrease power consumption during the operation of the machine. Also, we incorporate our DOSE chemical mixture system in order to avoid any waste of detergents, as it provides a precise dose of chemicals needed.
Professional cleaning has traditionally been a functional category. How do you build awareness and drive growth in a category where the audience may not be actively seeking innovation?
By concentrating on practical results in business and proving them by means of demonstration: “Show, not tell.” If clients do not seek innovations, we show them the difference in performance efficiency compared to traditional ways versus modern equipment. We conduct time-and-motion studies right on-site in client businesses. For instance, we prove that our KM 70/20 powerful sweeper sweeps big areas six times quicker than the conventional way, and our SGV 8/5 Classic steam vacuum cleaner performs deep hygienic cleaning without chemicals and with instant drying in one operation.
Your marketing approach is customer-centric. How does B2B marketing differ from B2C when you’re selling cleaning solutions to industrial and commercial clients, and what’s the most effective way to build trust in this space?
B2B decision-making involves aligned priorities across multiple key stakeholders:
- The Procurement Team: Looks for a clear TCO, durability, and strong return on investment.
- The Facility Manager: Requires absolute machine reliability and high operational performance.
- The Equipment Operator: Demands safety, intuitive controls, and ergonomic comfort.
In the commercial sector, trust is built through reliability and end-to-end partnership. We offer a complete solution ecosystem—from hardware to high-performance consumables like FloorPro and CarpetPro detergents with iCapsol quick-drying technology, as well as ultra-high-pressure (UHP) equipment. Crucially, our responsive, nationwide technical support network ensures maximum machine uptime, proving to our clients that we are dedicated long-term partners in their success.
What key trends will shape the professional cleaning industry in India over the next five years, and how is Kärcher positioning itself to lead those trends?
Three major trends will define the growth of the professional cleaning market in India over the next five years:
- Rapid Mechanization across Expanding Infrastructure: The expansion of airports, metro networks, manufacturing hubs, and logistics facilities requires commercial-grade mechanized equipment capable of covering massive areas quickly and efficiently.
- Smart & Autonomous Operations: The integration of smart cobotics (such as our KIRA range) and IoT-backed data will become standard, providing continuous, measurable hygiene tracking across commercial properties.
- Resource-Conscious Hygiene Solutions: Businesses will continue shifting toward resource-saving designs, high-efficiency machinery, and chemical-free thermal cleaning technologies (like professional steam cleaners) to fulfill sustainability goals.
Our Positioning: Kärcher India is fully equipped to lead this growth. Through our local assembly and tailored engineering initiatives (“Make in India”), we adapt world-class German technology specifically for Indian operational conditions. By expanding our sales and service footprint across Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, we ensure that businesses across the nation have access to world-class hygiene, innovation, and technical support.
