Monday, March 10, 2014: Karvin Power Systems Pvt Ltd is one of the leading manufacturers in India offering a wide variety of LED lighting products. The company is aggressively marketing LED lights of different types, which it manufactures locally. In conversation with Kartiki Negi of Electronics Bazaar, Sanjay Agarwal, managing director, Karvin Power Systems, speaks about the company’s growth plans and strategy for staying ahead of its competitors
EB: What do you feel will help to increase market acceptance of LED lighting products in India?
The fundamental feature of LED lighting is luminance. While some buyers look for luminance, the majority are swayed by low costs. Therefore, we need to create an overlap of features—a product that addresses key issues including power efficiency, environmental hazards and price.
The Indian LED market has a lot of hidden opportunities. But consumers in India cannot be just lured with environment-friendly concepts. We have to give them better luminance at a lower cost.
EB: What are the LED products you manufacture?
We manufacture LED products under the brand name Karvin. Our LED product portfolio includes streetlights, high bay lights, floodlights, tube lights, downlights and panel lights.
EB: Do you import the LED products? And from which country are they from?
We do not import the entire range of LED products. We only import LED chips from the US and Japan. Apart from this, everything else is sourced from indigenous producers.
EB: In which sectors are your products more popular?
The company has clients across both the government and private sectors. Some important government clients are Indian Railways, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, defence establishments, Daman Municipal Corporation, etc. We believe in growth through partnerships with our customers. The main demand comes from the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
EB: In what way are your LED products technologically advanced?
The LED driver is the main component in LED lighting products and our driver has many valuable features like protection for high power factor, high efficiency, etc. This helps us better manage the performance and technical designing of the products. Due to this, the performance of our products is outstanding and the technical designing improves efficiency. We are continuously trying to upgrade our products.
EB: What are the challenges you face while doing business in India?
The prime challenge is the lack of awareness about LED products among the buyers. Customers often buy low quality products because of the lower prices, but later on, these products do not perform well, which leaves them unsatisfied. So they feel that LED lights are not up to the mark and this is their opinion about all LED products.
EB: Do any of the government policies help in boosting LED product manufacturing in India?
As the government is already aware of the power shortage in our country, it should take more aggressive initiatives to resolve this problem by promoting LED lighting, which will help our nation to save almost 60 to 70 per cent of power. The government should give maximum incentives in terms of duties, taxes, excise and VAT exemptions. By doing this, even those in the lower income category will benefit by paying lower electricity bills.
EB: What are your growth plans for this year?
To continue to thrive as a business over the next 10 years and beyond, we must look ahead, understand the trends and forces that will shape our business in the future, and move swiftly to prepare for what’s to come. We must get ready for tomorrow. That’s what our 2020 Vision is all about. At this moment, our main focus is to upgrade the products technically and to minimise the cost to the customer.
EB: Are you looking for partners, such as distributors, systems integrators, etc?
Yes, we welcome partners who believe in quality and are technically qualified to understand the products.
Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine
