January 16, 2015: India will soon bid adieu to what we know as Edison bulbs, a few years after it went extinct from West, China, Brazil and Venezuela. In 2015, India will stop producing the 100W bulbs while the 60W bulbs will die in 2016 followed by 40W in 2017.
India still has 700 million operational Edison bulbs that account for Rs 17.8 billion, only a mere 15 per cent of the total Rs 120 billion lighting market.
Experts suggest the traditional lighting options will completely fade away by 2020. It is also observed that the demand for the traditional options has been stagnant for more than two years now as CFLs now followed by LEDs are making their way into Indian households.
Though the shift is slow as India has large price-conscious population but the push is now visible as government orders LED bulbs for 100 cities across the country.
The wave has started from Delhi as nearly 500,000 street lights will be replaced with LED bulbs across the city.
Moreover, here on government also plans to install LED bulbs in 100 districts every year. Under this plan, the government will give out two LED bulbs to each house at the cost of Rs 10, at a price of a 60W traditional bulb and then add a Rs 10 as monthly charge which will levied in their power bills.
The pricing has been kept such so that a consumer doesn’t feel a sudden pinch, from investing Rs 10 in a 60W incandescent vs Rs 350-400 5W LED bulb.
This change in consumer needs has called for a sudden drop in retail and wholesale prices as well. A 5W LED bulb is soon likely to cost less than Rs 300 at retail stores, as the prices have already dropped down by more than 30 per cent.
