Enthused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi terming LED lights as ‘ prakash path ” (way to light), manufacturers of these energy-efficient bulbs are look at ramping up capacities and increasing consumer awareness with a strong marketing push.

Huge opportunity

The Centre’s initiative on LED (light emitting diode) lighting has already started in Delhi and plans are afoot for installation of LED bulbs for domestic and street lighting in 100 cities by March 2016. With this, LED light manufacturers see a huge opportunity opening up, especially in urban areas where they say demand has already started growing.

For instance, Surya Roshni, which started in-house production of next-generation indoor and outdoor LED products at its plants, such as LED bulbs, down lighters and street lights, has already made investments in the range of ₹40-50 crore and is backing it up with a media campaign.

Raju Bista, MD, Surya Roshni, said, “We hope to achieve revenues worth ₹500 crore in the LED segment in the next two-three years.”

Orient Electric has decided to switch more than 50 per cent of its production capacity from CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) to LED lamps. Puneet Dhawan, senior Vice-President and Business Head-Lighting, Orient Electric said urban consumers are moving towards LED lamps and there is an increase in demand.

“We have geared up to switch over 50 per cent of our production capacity to LED and expect this to happen by March. We will have the capacity to produce nine lakh LED lamps a month,” he added.

Havells India President, Sunil Sikka, said his company already has sufficient capacity for manufacturing LED lamp fixtures and will look at increasing capacity for manufacturing LED lamps in the coming months. India is witnessing a disruptive shift and is expected to leapfrog in adoption of LEDs, and growth in volumes is expected to reduce prices, he added.

Comparative costs

At present, an incandescent bulb costs about ₹10-12 and lasts about 1,500 hours, while a CFL lamp is priced in the range of ₹120-140 and lasts about 10,000 hours. LED lamps start from ₹300-400 and are said to last up to 25,000-50,000 hours.

Sikka who is also the President of Electric Lamp and Component Manufacturers Association of India said according to the association’s long-term vision, its members will stop production of energy-guzzler ordinary bulbs in a phased manner.

According to industry estimates, the LED lights business in the country stood at about ₹4,000 crore in 2014 and is expected to touch the ₹20,000-crore mark by 2020.

Bajaj Electricals, which recently launched its LED campaign, “The Science of Light”, said it expects revenues from its LED business to double by the next fiscal with the launch f its new range of products, such as bulbs, panels, down lighters and fixtures.

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