Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, and New & Renewable Energy, has called for a correction in the pricing of LED (light-emitting diode).

Speaking at a conference on the ‘Business of Lighting’ here on Wednesday, Goyal said that it cannot be that the government procures LED bulbs at ₹72/unit while the market price is very high.

“The gap still looks unreasonably huge. Correcting this gap will help them (the players) to increase production,” he said. While stating that the government is capable of providing LED bulbs to every household at lower rates, Goyal cautioned that it will remove the competitive edge from the industry. At the end of the day market forces have to take over, he added.

Goyal said that the lessons on price discovery could be learned from the recently concluded coal mine auctions. He said government procurement could be done through an online bidding mechanism that is transparent.

The aim of the government is to completely replace all incandescent bulbs in the country with LED lights in the next three years, the Minister said, adding that this will provide a huge business opportunity to the lighting industry.

On the question of ensuring availability of quality LED products, Goyal appealed to the lighting fraternity to become whistleblowers for bad-quality products. He urged them to help set quality standards for imported products. Goyal emphasised that eventually it is self-regulation by the industry that will protect the nation from spurious products.

The minister said that there is scope for more innovation in the products related to LED and that the Government is willing to support research and development to bring innovation into this industry.

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