Checks suppliers' green claims and packs the proof each rating credit needs
TL;DR Greenbasis works for builders chasing an IGBC or GRIHA rating. It checks whether the "green" materials on a purchase list really carry the ecolabel, recycled content or declaration the rating credit asks for, and then hands the consultant a ready proof pack. Developers pay per project, and suppliers pay to be pre-checked.
Green ratings have gone mainstream in Indian real estate. IGBC counted more than 18,000 registered projects covering 14.8 billion sq ft by late 2025[1]. Each one has to prove that what was bought matches what the credits demand.
That proof is a mess. CII's GreenPro ecolabel alone covers more than 11,500 products from over 450 companies in 39 categories[2], and suppliers mix certified and uncertified lines under one brand name. Certificates expire, product codes change, and the paperwork often turns up months after the material has been poured or painted. Consultants spend weeks chasing it and credits get dropped when it never comes.
Greenbasis sits between the builder's purchase team and its green-building consultant. The builder uploads its bill of materials and the credits it's going after. Greenbasis matches each line to a specific certified product, checks the certificate is live and covers that exact variant, and flags the lines where a supplier's claim doesn't hold up. At handover you get a credit-by-credit folder the consultant can submit.
Suppliers can pay to be pre-checked once a year, which makes their products quicker to approve on every project.
The seed pitched an open marketplace of sustainable suppliers and I narrowed it. Large B2B platforms already sell building materials at scale[3], and a new marketplace would have to fight them on price and credit terms. Verified proof is the scarcer service. IGBC's new-buildings rating, version 4, adds embodied-carbon measurement[1], so product-level declarations will matter more every year.
The builder pays, usually through its sustainability or procurement head, and the green-building consultant is the daily user. A per-project fee scaled by built-up area fits how consultants already bill. I couldn't find a public price for this kind of service, so test pricing early. Material suppliers are a second payer - a yearly listing fee for verified products, which they'll pay if it gets them specified in tenders.
In November 2025 IGBC launched version 4 of its new-buildings rating with embodied-carbon measurement, and published India's first embodied-carbon baseline for buildings[1]. GreenPro crossed 11,500 certified products the same year[2]. Free global databases already host over 50,000 product declarations[4], so the data exists. What nobody does yet is match it to an Indian purchase order.
There is no public figure for spending on green-certified materials in India. The firmer numbers are counts - 18,000+ IGBC-registered projects[1] and 11,500+ GreenPro products[2]. GRIHA, the government-adopted rating, also keeps a vetted product catalogue[5]. Registration is not certification though, so the paying pool is smaller than the headline count.
GreenPro and the GRIHA product catalogue publish lists, but neither ties a product to a project's purchase order[2][5]. A free global declaration database exists, with no Indian procurement support[4]. Large B2B platforms sell materials but shows no green verification line[3]. Most builders just rely on their consultant's spreadsheet. The gap is a desk that owns the proof all the way from purchase order to submission.
| Difficulty | Moderate (33/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹40–75 L |
| Time to launch | 4–6 months |
The software is modest. The hard part is credibility, because consultants have to trust your checks enough to submit them and suppliers have to answer your document requests quickly. Expect to win the first ten projects through consultant relationships and not marketing, and keep the product library current as certificates lapse.
No special licence here. A desk that checks documents needs no sector permit, but the rating bodies' rules decide what proof counts.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't let AI decide on its own that a product meets a credit. A wrong match costs the builder a credit, so a person signs off every line.
Want to work out the AI layer for Greenbasis? Talk to Yash →
I'd back a founder from a green-building consultancy who knows exactly where credits get lost. If you're hoping to run a materials trading business with a green label stuck on it then this isn't for you. Prove one thing first - that five consultants will route real projects through you and that their builders pay for it.
Plan for roughly ₹40–75 L. Most of it goes on analysts, the product library and the time it takes to win the first consultants.
No sector licence. You need company registration, GST once you cross the threshold, and contracts that say you check documents and don't certify products.
Yes, wherever builders chase ratings such as LEED or BREEAM. Learn that rating's proof rules and the local ecolabels before you sell.
The free Greenbasis validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the rules checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for builders and consultants, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Greenbasis or something close to it? The make-or-break work is getting green-building consultants to treat you as help and not as competition, and I'm happy to think that through with you. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.