'Market Will Sustain The Consumer'

Dismissing the anticipation of price rise in the LED bulb market, Saurabh Kumar expresses that post completion of government's UJALA scheme and EESL's shifts from LED bulbs to other appliances, the market will sustain the consumers.

How has been EESLs growth in the past 2 years, since its inception?
The financial growth of the company has been exponential in the last two years. The turnover for the year 2015-16 was Rs. 715 crore and for the year 2016-17 the turnover is estimated at approximately Rs 1,300 crore. Till date, we have been able to distribute 22.9 crore LED bulbs, under the UJALA scheme. The procurement has been done keeping a margin of 3-4 crore LED bulbs.

The prices of the LED bulbs have seen a drastic fall, thanks to the government scheme which helped the industry scale up and reduce costs. However, once the government exits, do you see the prices rising again, as the industry players fully take up the LED market.
We have been able to bring down the prices of the LED bulbs from Rs 350 in the retail market, to Rs 65 under UJALA scheme through bulk procurement. The transformation of the lighting market to LED has also altered the age-old manufacturing practices. Notably, India's global share of LED has increased from 0.1 per cent to 12 per cent in a span of one year.

We have helped the LED market to bring down the price of the LED technology and made it available to consumers even in remotest areas and also help spread awareness on benefits of LED technology. The industry has been supportive of our initiative and we believe even after EESL shifts from LED bulbs to other appliances, the market will sustain the consumers.

How do you attribute the fact that UJALA scheme been a game changer for the LED producing companies in the country. Was the timing of the scheme perfect as the global industry was undergoing a technology transition itself?
The scheme led to market transformation in the lighting market with LEDs becoming the preferred lighting source. With the advent of such high impact LED based lighting schemes, the industry has grown at a CAGR of 46 per cent in 2013-14. Presently, the industry stands at a value of Rs. 3,395 crore. Interestingly, if you see, the potential of the energy efficiency market in India is marked at Rs 74,000-crore and India's LED bulb market is set to register a growth of more than 30 percent in the next 4-5 years.

Our objective was to transform the market by bringing down the price of the LED bulbs. The LED technology was available in the country however it was not affordable for the consumers. We are now diversifying from LED bulbs to other energy efficiency appliances like energy efficient fans and LED tube lights following the same model.

Do you have plan to take the energy efficiency movement outside the LED bulbs segment?
We observed that air conditioners are contributing to one of the major amount of electricity bills and energy usage in a household or facility. Looking at the enormous amount of energy savings that can be achieved through AC, we will be introducing Super-efficient AC or Inverter AC very soon. The super-efficient ACs are ranged anywhere between Rs 50,000-55,000 in the market, which explains the lower demand of this product. Therefore, through bulk procurement, we will be aggregating demand aiming towards reduction in prices of these ACs in the market, following the same business model as that of the LED bulbs.

Any plans of expanding abroad?
Yes. We have identified 20 developing countries as potential markets for the programmes implemented by EESL. We have established operations in UK by investing around 7 million pound in seven energy saving projects and will be signing multiple MoUs to gain access in the overseas market.

We are also looking at strategic alliances with many intergovernmental organizations across the globe exploring new avenues in energy efficiency to unlock various sustainable options in a specific group of countries giving an all new dimension to its portfolio.