View Point
V.P. Mahendru, CMD, EON Electric Ltd
India is all set to become the most-populous country in the world by 2030. An anticipated increase in urban population of 500 million people during 2010-2050 in megacities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata will pose a huge challenge to meet the electricity demand. Smart LED lighting is the only solution to address the power shortage for lighting purposes which leaves less carbon footprint as compared to conventional lighting solutions such as CFLs, halogens and incandescent lights.
Dr. Hitesh Doshi, Chairman & MD, Waaree Group
- Jan 12, 2018
We welcome this initiative by the Government, as it is bound to increase employment and help achieve the required energy security in the country. The duty will give the necessary boost to solar cell and module manufacturers, and help protect the industry from the long standing challenge faced due to dumping.
Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank
- Dec 21, 2017
I am very excited to share with you the partnership with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd or EESL, acompany that finances residential and public-sector energy efficiency investments in India. EESLhas already deployed more than 275 million LED bulbs, 4.2 million LED tube lights, and 4 million street lights in municipalities throughout India.
Tushar Gupta, Executive Director, NTL Lemnis
- Nov 1, 2017
Tushar Gupta shares his view point on a recent Nielsen study on LED bulbs available in the Indian markets.
Sameer Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Jakson Group
- Sep 27, 2017
We welcome the Saubhagya Scheme launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for providing free electricity connections to an estimated 40 million poor households across India, rural and urban. The new scheme is bound to trigger a series of social benefits that electricity can bring to un-electrified households, including creating jobs. With an end-to-end, concept-to-commissioning model, Jakson Group has extensive experience in executing several urban and rural electrification projects across India. With our strong EPC capabilities, we are well positioned to contribute to this key policy initiative that can help meet national development goals.
Soeb Fatehi, Immediate Past President, COSMA
- Aug 13, 2017
Our Control Panel & Switchgear Manufacturers’ Association (COSMA) regularly observes market scenarios and trends from the point of view of technologies, manufacturing processes and customer demands.
Over the last three years we see a rapid change compliances expected by the market. Customers require manufacturers to offer world class products produced locally. They expect manufacturers to guarantee performance of products in conformity to IEC standards to match equipment being used by their own establishments and other comparable establishments in more developed countries.
Complexities of safety requirements are increasing progressively as more employees serve across national borders requiring insurance and legal standardization for EHS practices.
Manufacturers who fail to recognize the forward movement of such technical specifications will face tough conditions in the next half decade before us.
Manas Kundu, Director Energy Solutions, International Copper Association India
- Aug 13, 2017
India’s power sector till end of 12th Five-year plan has been missing the target capacity addition by big margins. Then came the change and renewed thrust on “Power for All” that has become game changer, so to say. This has now turned into “Quality Power for All” since the society is turning digital.
Another area is ‘Renewable Energy’ with Solar Mission in driving seat. This would bring huge innovation both in terms of project management and delivery of lifeline energy to huge rural masses that were deprived so far.
Sustainability in Power Sector is most desirable thing that would help fuel our economic growth in a pace better than any other global economy. But that is an area of concern.
Though we have huge number of players in power distribution market very few home grown MNCs do operate from here. We are already facing stiff competition in some of the markets but our inner looking approach, in my opinion, have often been the stumbling block for global competitiveness that comes from eye for quality and thought for future when we build infrastructure for next century.
Looking ahead: I think the industry segment will see only credible and reliable players that are capable of delivering quality. And the user industry shall recognise it that ‘A stitch in time will save nine’. Renewable energy storage, energy efficient appliances and Electric Vehicle Charging systems will rapidly take its position under the sun towards maturity and transforming India.
Hartek Singh, CMD, Hartek Group
- Aug 13, 2017
Since the past three-four years, the government has been laying special emphasis on renewable energy. The technology in the T&D segment has not changed much in recent years, apart from a couple of optimised designs introduced by manufacturers which have helped enhance the overall efficiency of the system. The single-window system adopted by the government has resulted in timely approvals for projects. Driven by reforms, the Indian power sector is growing at an unprecedented pace. Going from strength to strength, Indian companies are second to none in terms of technical knowhow and domain expertise.
The coming years: The Indian power sector has indeed come a long way with an installed capacity of 329 GW, as on June 30, 2017. It has become the world’s third largest power producer and the fourth largest consumer. In the next five years, we foresee the entire power system moving towards a higher voltage ring main so as to minimise losses and interruptions at every stage with the larger objective of ensuring round-the-clock uninterrupted power supply.
The share of renewable energy in India’s installed power generation capacity is bound to increase substantially. The growth in the energy storage and e-mobility markets will boost the power sector on the whole. The country’s grid infrastructure is in for a major overhaul. We also foresee rural electrification projects being executed on a massive scale. Besides, we will witness cities entrusted with the Smart City mandate moving towards a more sustainable power ecosystem.
Amit Vaidya, Director – Customer Relations Team, Sensus India
- Aug 13, 2017
Smart grids have become pivotal in India for many government programmes and initiatives such as 100 Smart Cities, 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022, 40 per cent energy from non-fossil resources by 2030 and 6-7 million electric vehicles and 24×7 power supply to all citizens. With this, the private sector is expected to take the lead and set up a smart grid in India. The government also carried out 14 smart grid pilots resulting in varying degrees of success. Due to their small scale, the pilot projects did not give an accurate picture of the challenges that could be faced during a major roll out.
At present, around 32 per cent of Indians live in urban areas. The varied geographical conditions of each city, and the different categories of consumers being served by the distribution grid, make it very challenging to deploy an urban smart metering communication network. The industry needs to focus on AMI technology which has the unique capability to optimize the asset life of meters and provide infrastructure which supports these varied geographical conditions without compromising the network performance, data or the analytics platforms. The technology must also ensure more than 99.5 per cent connectivity even to end-points situated in remote or difficult locations.
Tushar Gupta, Executive Director, NTL Lemnis
- Aug 13, 2017
The advent of LED has changed the entire landscape of the industry for good, and today LED is the preferred choice of both commercial and residential customers. The customers are flummoxed by the many benefits in terms of style and usage, ROI, life span, energy saving and environment friendliness. The government of India has played a very critical and path breaking role in creating the requisite awareness amongst the people to adopt this revolutionary technology. As of now the government has distributed more than 25crore LED’s under its pet scheme UJALA saving more than 32 million kwh of energy, which are staggering numbers. The global practices, focus on R&D and use of best practices by the lighting industry makes it best in the world in terms of quality and quantity and will remain so.
As of now, the industry is focusing on new technologies like OLEDs and Li-Fi. OLED lighting is primed to be far superior to conventional lighting solutions. With OLEDs, light is naturally diffused across a panel rather than harsh piercing points of light, benefiting both the end user and overall energy consumption while Li-Fi Offers broadband Internet connection through electric light, which fits perfect with the IoT target of connecting everything that can be connected, like an entire city, state or country and its people.
Looking ahead: According to guess-estimates, the LED Lighting market in India in 2016-17 was around Rs.9,900 crore and is growing quite rapidly. It is estimated that the LED lighting market will reach Rs.17,400 crore by 2019-20 and to around Rs.23,000 crore by 2021-22. With the growth, the lighting industry has changed drastically too. From a handful of manufacturers, suddenly there is an explosion in the number of brands across the board. The demand is likely to increase mainly in outdoor and to some extent in consumer segment as well. With the sheer focus and will it can fully replace CFL and incandescent from the country. The country with “Make in India” approach could be a hub of manufacturing LEDs and can be an export hub for lighting solutions for world.