LED to replace 40pc lighting market by 2015

In lighting, LED (light emitting diode) will be the order of the day in coming years. LED based application in consumer, industrial and public lighting and appliances like mobiles, display units, TV, computer monitors and automobiles, etc., are finding quick acceptance from all sectors because of low running cost, long life, as well as mow low maintenance cost. LED lights consumes 80pc less electricity as compare to bulb and 35pc less electricity as compare to even CFL lamps. In wake of rising price of energy and greenhouse emission worries, LED is getting more attention. Coupled with solar application, LED is making inroads in rural India and is poised to touch life of millions of people. Global market for LED is placed at 11.2 billion US$, and growing at a pace of 108%. LEDs are finding more and more applications in Signals, Signage / Displays, Illumination, Automobiles, Back lighting units (BLUs) for TVs, monitors, Mobile applications and others. ‘Packaged LED’ market globally is expected to grow from US$ 9 billion in 2010 to US$ 30 billion by 2020 in India. Similarly for ‘LED products’ the global demand will exceed US$ 300 billion by 2020 from US$ 30 billon. Facilities for Wafer processing to make LEDs is mainly located in countries like, United States, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, S. Korea and China, while, packaging happens in Asia, mainly Malaysia, Taiwan, China and S. Korea. Taiwan is the centre for contract packaging for US and European companies. Major players are Philips Lighting, Zumtobel, Cree LED, Osram, Sharp and LG. Strangely, India has very limited capacity in terms of production of raw materials, as well as packaged LED and LED products, which is currently at less than US$ 1billion, is expected to reach a phenomenal level of US$ 35 billion by 2020. Also, manufacturers here are unable to meet the demand. However, the total needs in this sector are dependent on imports as technical knowhow for manufacture and packaging of LEDs is inadequate. Therefore, it will be prudent to focus on building indigenous technology with foreign collaboration to cater to the increasing requirements in this sector. Indian enterprises like MIC, OSRAM, NICHIA, EPISTAR, SEOUL, LG INNOTEK, etc. are doing incredible work in making and promoting LED all across the country and beyond. Experiments are on in India and abroad to provide good quality LED applications at affordable price points. Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) are coming up with standards for LED manufacturers to protect consumer interests and also to also facilitate tendering procedure for public utilities like street lighting. It has become imperative to look into the aspect of LED chip manufacture, LED packaging and LED product manufacturing in India to cater to these various increasing applications and requirements. In addition to the demand in India there will be an equal opportunity and demand for export of these products could reach a figure of US$ 50 billion by proper positioning of the segment of LED products, which will be more than 10% of Electronic hardware Market in India at that time. The Department of Information Technology is very keen to promote development of Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector as a whole and LED sector specifically occupies a respectable position. These efforts finally led to the proposed international “LED Forum India 2011” to be jointly organized by LEDMA and DIT on 23rd and 24th September, 2011 at New Delhi. LEDMA has been making elaborate arrangements for grand success of this historic forum. It is heartening to inform that almost all major international and national players confirmed their participation in the meet. The demand for electronics hardware in the country is projected to increase from US$ 45 billion in 2009 to US$ 400 billion by 2020. This provides a huge opportunity for India to become an Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) hub to meet its domestic requirements as well as the global requirements. The forum is expected to give the necessary fillip to the LED industry and applications by creating a collaborative environment for exchange of ideas and networking among the respective stakeholders. About 150 organisations from India and about 20 leading Firms in the field of LEDs from countries like USA, Japan and Taiwan are expected to participate. Sachin Pilot, e MoS, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology will inaugurate the Forum. Senior officials of the Ministries of IT & C, Power and MNRE are expected to take active part in the deliberations. The forum is meant for eliciting the views of all the stake holders like LED chip fabricators, LED system Manufacturers, Equipment suppliers, End users, policy makers and Financial Institutions aimed at facilitating accelerated creation of the needed infra-structure and investment climate and bringing about the needed changes in policies for leapfrogging of technology and production levels in India in the field of LEDs in a holistic way.