Indian Lighting Market Has Seen Buoyancy in Lighting Products Recently

Indian lighting market has seen buoyancy in lighting products recently. The demand for energy efficiency has brought forward an immediate need for more energy efficient products and also has pushed market towards more efficient products such as Light Emitting Diode (LEDs). The key challenge is whether the market is currently ready for LED products and what is the rationale for such products. Over the years, opportunities for Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) in Indian lighting markets have showcased and materialised in automotive, communications, signage, signalling, architecture and entertainment sectors. The opportunity for LEDs in the general space illumination segment of residential and commercial buildings has most recently emerged. This segment is niche and has significant potential for market transformation towards LED lighting. LED technology has been globally recognised as extremely efficient and ecofriendly in comparison to the Incandescent Lamps (ICLs) and florescent lamps (FTLs, CFLs). Penetration of LEDs in India could significantly reduce lighting load, peak demand and overall energy consumption without compromising on the entire lighting industry in India in 2009 was estimated to be 7167 crore according to Statistics of Indian Lighting Industry, ELCOMA, out of which, the share of LED lighting was only 216.38 crore. The Indian LED market is anticipated to grow at 54% till 2014 based on the industry estimates. The growth factors can be attributed to: Government support for promoting investments in energy efficient lighting Development of national standards for testing and performance evaluation Transfer and improvements in existing technology for new applications Global mandate to address GHG emissions, and decline in average prices of LED. The lighting technology would improve over a period of time both in terms of efficacy and life. It is very difficult to predict this improvement in technology. The quantum of these improvements would depend on the maturity of the technology and the market outlook towards these technologies. The efficacy of LEDs is expected to double in the next 20 years. Formation of the National Standards for LEDs would accelerate the market development of LEDs as government can exhibit the same through procurement processes. Future life predictions It is expected that by 2021, the LED technology will penetrate 57 percent of the lighting market. This penetration may be accelerated by the demonstrated leadership by the government procurement and large scale penetration by the public sectors. Private sector by its cost economics will be early adopters in LED market. By 2031, more than 80 per cent of the lighting market will be captured. Currently, the market penetration is solely driven by the economics of transactions. However, as the income level of the consumers, standardisation of the technology, consumer confidence improves, it will drive its market penetration. Market acceleration programme of BEE The BEE has launched a nationwide LED Village Campaign. Till date, 34 LED based street light projects have been identified by the SDAs in 23 states for which BEE has disbursed approximately 9.00 crore for implementation of these projects BEE has initiated the labeling programme for appliances and equipments. Be it air conditioners or televisions, the standby power consumption is coming down because of the large scale usage of LEDs in the making of these appliances. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com