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Can you give our readers an overview of the lighting industry in India?
India, being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, is witnessing a boom in construction as well as investments in infrastructure. This is contributing to accelerating the growth of the lighting industry.

Of late, lighting as source of energy has become a hot topic of discussion and debate globally. According to the International Energy Agency:

• Lighting is responsible for 19% of the world’s electricity consumption.
• Artificial light accounts for almost one-fifth of the world's electricity consumption, substantially more than the output of all the nuclear power stations in the world

This has lead to the growth in energy-efficient lighting, which can play a significant role in assuaging the impact of global warming.

As per a report by the International Energy Agency, the adoption of more energy-efficient lighting systems could prevent a cumulative total of 16 billion tons of carbon from being added to the world's atmosphere over the next 25 years. Despite advances in lighting technology, between 67% and 75% of the world’s lights utilize older, less energy-efficient technology——some dating as far back as the 1950s.

Tell us more about the advent of LED-based lighting solutions in India.
In 2006 alone, we sold energy-saving products that contributed to a reduction in installed load of more than 1000 MW of power. Philips pioneered the concept of energy-efficient lighting globally and in India with the introduction of compact fluorescent lamps.

In 2007, an LED lighting range was launched for Indian homes, which includes an array of products for innovative energy-conserving lighting solutions. These products feature saturated colors, digital control, energy efficiency and such.

The advantages of LEDs include longer lifetime, compact size and flexibility in design, digital control programmability, light output with no ultraviolet and infrared radiation and usage safety because of low voltage and low heat operation. These will expand applications of lighting in homes in ways one could only dream of a few years back.

We believe that LEDs is the next wave of lighting technology. LED lighting systems provide a much higher color saturation and brilliance than by filtering conventional light sources. Different color effects are now possible from the same light source. Prior to this, LEDs have been used in many architectural and commercial applications. Now, home users can utilize LEDs for decorative purposes, save energy and reduce their electricity bill. Recently, we have introduced LED-based products for office, shop and city beautification segments in India.

Recently, at the Light India International 2008 exhibition held in Delhi, we showcased our innovative and futuristic lighting solutions in office, urban, retail, hospitality and consumer lighting segment through concepts like future bazaar and experience zones.

Typically, who would you say are the current target clients for LED-based lighting globally?
The current applications for LEDs in lighting are mostly in the decorative space. This means LEDs are mainly used for city beautification applications, shop windows and in urban homes.

Where is the market—India or abroad?
While the penetration of LEDs is more in the western countries, the time gap between their adoptions there and in India is coming down significantly.