According to CSIL, in the fiscal year 2019-20, the Indian Lighting Industry witnessed a growth in the total consumption of lighting fixtures from USD 2885.8 million in 2018 to USD 3145.6 million. The Indian LED Lighting Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 23.9% during 2019-23, with the major growth drivers in recent years being a surge of growing population and subsequent urbanization.

According to ELCOMA, the industry is expected to reduce energy consumption for lighting from the present 18% of total power consumption to 13%. The lighting market in India is evolving rapidly and moving from using CFL products to LEDs. This transition is driven by an increasing number of government initiatives for energy conservation, rising consumer awareness about energy-efficient products, affordable pricing and product innovations that are in sync with the overall trend of digitization.

Key market players such as Syska, Philips, Crompton, Halonix, Havells, Bajaj, Orient, Panasonic and Wipro etc have a fair share in the market. At the same time, new players have a good scope for growth. With falling LED chip prices as well as augmented capacities, Indian players in the lighting industry have shifted production from conventional lighting to LED lighting and consequently widened their export base.

According to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade India, the lighting exports will grow at a CAGR of 6-8% till 2021. The market is also witnessing a rapid shift from the unorganised to the organised sector with evolving consumer preferences, superior offerings by branded players, and reduced-price differential after GST implementation.

Within the LED segment the institutional category, comprising large organisations and government agencies like Energy Efficiency Services Ltd ('EESL'), have dominated sales thus far, given the significantly higher prices of LEDs, especially in the initial years of its introduction. Typical products under the institutional category include street lights, flood lights etc. However, a rapid decline in LED prices over the past few years, coupled with growing awareness about its energy efficiency and environmentally friendly nature, have resulted in its share of retail sales increasing as well.

In 2019, India's energy demand grew by 6% with population growth being a strong propeller of this accelerating demand. Nevertheless, population is projected to increase from 1.1 billion to 1.7 billion by 2042 (UN, 2017). Most of this growth in population will be absorbed in cities, resulting in the urbanization rate to increase from 30% to 50%. The degree of urbanization in the country will have significant implications on the trend of energy consumption because of increase in demand from industries that use energy for construction and manufacturing. With the increasing rate of electricity consumption, the demand for an environment friendly and cost-effective lighting solution is also gaining traction.

Indian import of luminaires

Since 2013, India is a net importer of luminaires. Almost 90% of imports come from China, recording a growth of 8% in 2019.

During the 2014-2019 period Indian imports increased at an average rate of almost 4%, from over 800 million USD to almost one billion.

On the middle run, there are remarkable growth rates of imports from the United States (9% per year). From Europe, there are some significant amount of imports from Germany and Italy (around 20 and 10 million USD respectively). Imports of lamps are gradually increasing, from around 200 to 240 million USD. On the opposite side, export of lamps is decreasing from 150 to 60 million USD in five years.

Smart city mission 2019-2020

By end of 2020, around 100 smart city projects were in the pipeline. The Government's emphasis on using cutting-edge technologies for building better infrastructure became clearly visible in both the Smart City 2.0 mission as well as the declaration of 2019-2020 as the year of construction technology.

As on November 14, 2019, 4,154 SCM projects worth Rs 1.49 lakh crore (72% of the total proposals) have been tendered, of which 3,359 projects worth Rs 1.05 lakh crores (51% of total proposals) have been issued work orders. As many as 1,290 projects worth Rs 22,569 crores have been completed and are operational Top 10 completed projects. The Government in 2020 has allocated Rs 6,450 crore for the Smart Cities Mission for the year 2020-2021.

Top Players

Signify (Philips India) is by far market leader in India, even if its overall turnover is reduced, mainly for downscale manufacturing of conventional lamps.

Top players in the residential lighting market include again Signify (Philips brand) as well Syska LED Lights, founded in 2012 and part of the SSK Group (Shree Sant Kripa). SSK has 148 regional distributors and 22,000 dealers across western India. It is active also in appliances, retail and fruits, with an overall 1,000 employment. The company offers a wide range of international quality LED lighting solutions, for varied applications including residential and retail to commercial and industrial applications. Almost all products are UL certified bearing LM 79 test report. Emerging players in the professional segment include Ledvance, Halonix, Eveready, Pigeon Lighting, Orient Electric, TISVA.

Top Lighting brands under Industrial lighting include Signify (Philips), Wipro, Havells, Crompton Greaves. Crompton Greaves Limited, one of the largest players in India in the electrical equipment and engineering industry, is the flagship company of the BM Thapar Group. It is the market leader in fans with a strong brand image; it is the fastest growing brand in home appliances and the leader in the domestic pumps segment. Its plants are located in Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Kolkata. Company's top customers include Indian utilities, such as the Power Grid Corporation of India and the Andhra Pradesh Transmission Corporation; consumer products makers, such as Whirlpool; and high-tech companies, such as Infosys.

Outdoor lighting is the fastest growing segment. India's infrastructures are still underdeveloped and the Government has been and will continue to invest big money on them. Bajaj Electricals is one of the oldest business conglomerates in India focusing on lighting solutions and domestic appliances. It manufactures LED lighting for home decoration under the brand name Bajaj LEDZ and iLED. It is part of a group of 25 companies that has over 36,000 employees. To increase its footprint globally and in India, Bajaj Electrical has partnered up with reputed brands like CREE Lighting of USA and Securiton of Switzerland for Luminaires, Delta Controls of Canada for Integrated Building Management Systems, Greystone of Canada and Magnum Energy of USA for Wired and Wireless Sensors. Bajaj Electricals has also invested in Starlite Lighting for manufacture of energy saving lamps (CFL). Bajaj Luminaires has also tied up with CISCO for smart outdoor lighting solutions and Gooee, a IoT lighting company.