Philips eyes to tap Indian street lighting market

Dutch electronics firm Philips today said it plans to tap the Indian street lighting market for which it is developing a range of products to suit the requirements of the country.

"In India, there is an untapped market which is the street lighting. So we are really focused on developing the range of products which could be of true value for Indian street lighting and we are practically doing that right now," Philips Light Asia Regional Business Director Nigel D' Acre told PTI.

He said among the Asian countries, India and China contribute a major chunk to the company's overall lighting division sales and expects a huge growth coming from these regions as well.

"We expect huge growth from these markets both in infrastructure and private investments," he said.

D' Acre also singled out the hospitals segment as another area to grow its lighting business as the company, which is pushing its LED (light emitting diode) products, as looks to ramp up its brand presence in India.

"Hospitals in India are huge. So we see lot of opportunities there," he added.

 According to Frost & Sullivan, the overall Indian LED lighting is expected to reach USD 399.2 million by 2015 from USD 49.6 million in 2009 at an estimated annual growth rate of 41.5 per cent till 2014.

At present, 38 per cent of Philip's lighting business comes from the emerging markets driven by healthy growth in India and China. In 2010, lighting business contributes about 34 per cent to the company's overall revenue. Last year, the company's total sales stood at 25.4 billion euro.

Besides, the company said it is also planning to increase its presence in India in the lighting space and create more awareness about LED products and solutions in the country.

"We will ramp up our presence through education of LED lighting products, hold trade shows. Besides, we are putting in more technical people with LED expertise," Philips Lumileds Director of Marketing Communications Steve Landau said.

Philips Lumileds is a part of the Philips Electronics, which makes LED products and solutions for the company.

He said the company will carry out different activities in a variety of formats in order to create awareness about the LED lighting products and "we will support the industry by providing the kind of expertise required".

Globally, Philips Lighting business has been driven by LED-based products, comprising 14 per cent of total sales (of lighting business).