LEDs for lighting up the power sector

Dilip Kumbhat, President Indian Society of Lighting Engineers and CEO, K-Lite Industries

“Government should impose restrictions so that except the LED chips from reputed manufacturers, other imports are curtailed”

Dilip Kumbhat, President Indian Society of Lighting Engineers and CEO, K-Lite Industries, discusses how the government initiatives for energy saving measures for the lighting industry has proved to be a game changer for the Indian power sector.

Lighting contribution
One of the critical components of infrastructure that affects India’s economic growth is the Indian power sector. Under the power sector, the contribution due to lighting power is significant and is considered to be around 17 to 18 per cent of the total energy.

Meeting the demand of industries
Electrification of energy demand in all regions and sectors and its impact on economic growth of the country has to be looked upon in two broad and distinct categories, i.e. meeting the demand of industries and catering to the lighting. It is obvious that the economic growth impact will be much higher with the industrial expansion as compared to lighting. In fact, most of the states have achieved total electrification of their villages by extending electric supply to those in need. The industries get established around the industrial hubs and places, which are already electrified.

A game-changing initiative to lower power consumptions of lightning industry
The initiatives by the Government of India for energy saving measures applicable to the lighting industry has definitely proved to be a game changer and these programs are implemented by:

• Establishing a separate non-conventional and renewable energy sources department for a focused approach in energy saving measures at the national level
• Developing domestic manufacturing capability for LED chips and encouraging entrepreneurs with more than 25 per cent investment cost reimbursement through the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity) under the Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS)
• Incentivising the establishment of R&D facilities, testing laboratories etc., for the lighting components
• By establishing a separate company known as EESL, and directly procuring and distributing millions of LED lamps, government has made a turn around to bring down the prices considerably.

Lighting market in India
Favorable government initiatives, growing environmental concerns and awareness and the declining prices of LED components due to scaled up demand are the factors to be considered for the growth rate of the lighting market in the years to come. According to TechSci Research report, the LED lighting market in India is projected to register a CAGR of over 30 per cent, during 2016-2021, on account of rising personal disposable income, growing government initiatives encouraging use of LED lights and increasing focus on smart city projects. Rising urban population of the country is expected to further drive demand for LED lighting in India during next five years.

The need to boost the lighting industry
Free and cheap imports, particularly from China, are really killing the development of domestic manufacturing of lighting components. Such imports have brought down the quality to very low levels. Government should impose restrictions so that except the LED chips from reputed manufacturers, other imports are curtailed. There is a need to create more public awareness programs to choose energy efficient lighting and make the usage of LED lamps/ fixtures in all government departments/ projects mandatory. A uniform standard for the LED chips in line with the emerging technologies should be implemented.