Philips Electronics India, one of the largest electronics companies in India, today unveiled its roadmap for addressing India’s power crisis through energy efficient lighting in India. Philips, which pioneered the concept of energy efficient lighting in India with introduction of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), has outlined ambitious plans to selling 20 million CFLs in India by Dec 2007, up from 12-13 million bulbs sold last year. Incidentally, Philips invented the energy saving CFLs 26 years ago.

Lighting is responsible for 19% of the world’s electricity consumption, according to the International Energy agency. According to industry sources, In India, the incandescent bulb uses up to 95 percent of the energy to generate heat and only remaining 5 percent to produce light. CFLs use only 20 percent of the energy used by an ordinary light bulb. In India, 18,000 megawatt power annually is used for lighting purposes alone, out of which 12,000 MW can be saved by using CFLs. The power crisis in the country is reflected in the MAIT-Emerson Network Power (India) study on Network Power Downtime, which reveals that India Inc. could be losing over Rs. 22,000 crores in year 2003, in direct losses, due to poor power quality and operating environment related downtime – estimated to be around 2.2% of the gross output of the total industrial and service sectors.

Mr. S. Venkataramani, Head- Lighting Division, Philips Electronics India elaborated on the growth in company’s CFL business. “CFL bulbs which contributed less than 1% to our lighting business last year, now form 20 % of our business. We are committed to ramping up production of CFLs to meet the rising demand in countries like India. In the past five years alone, Philips has invested more than EUR 400 million in R&D, resulting in attractive new energy efficient lighting solutions.”

Philips announced various initiatives that the company has undertaken as part of its commitment to energy efficient lighting. The electronics major is working closely with several state government bodies to spread awareness on the issue. Last year, Philips tied up with Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) for the Howrah Bridge illumination project. The bridge was fitted with modern and energy efficient equipments like Arenavision, Nocturnes and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). The company is also working closely with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a globally renowned not-for-profit research organization focusing on energy, environment and sustainable development and several awareness based initiatives are in the pipeline.

“Our goal is to create an ecosystem comprising industry bodies, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and education institutes to break down the barriers towards adoption of energy efficient lighting. In a first of sorts in the lighting industry in the country, Philips had recently pledged an advertising budget of Rs 20 crores towards awareness building initiatives like ‘Bijli Bachao’ campaign and other educational activities like creating awareness amongst school children. We are also in process of finalizing some energy conservation projects with the Government of India”, added Mr. Venkatramani.  

Contd on page 2....