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INDUSTRY NEWS
Havells to Become Global Supplier
 Noida-based electrical and lighting products major Havells India Ltd is building up its exports and emerging as a global supplier of CFLs, motors and switchgears. It has recently shut down the UK-based CFL plant of Sylvania, a company it acquired in 2007, and will now be shipping Sylvania lamps from its brand new facility at Neemrana, Rajasthan.
“This plant has been set up keeping the European markets in mind,” asserts Anil Gupta, joint managing director of the company. According to him, CFLs worth Rs 750 crore will be exported to Europe over five years. In addition to this, the company also has buying commitments from its motor collaborators Lafert, Germany for goods worth Rs 250 crore during the same period. Both these tie-ups promise to give Havells an export business of Rs 1,000 crore in the coming years.
“In the current fiscal, we hope to export worth somewhere between Rs 80-100 crore, while from 2010-11 onwards it will be equally divided,” says Gupta. He informs that production of CFLs will reach full capacity sometime in August once the UK plant, which is being shifted to Neemrana, will be commissioned.
The company has already consolidated its CFL production by shifting the manufacturing processes from Faridabad and Haridwar to Neemrana. Post consolidation, the Neemrana plant’s capacity has increased two fold, to make 40 lakh units of CFLs per month, besides 20,000 motors a month.
“With this consolidation our facility is emerging as a global manufacturing hub, and helping us to optimise costs and build efficiencies. We also plan to merge our Delhi-based switchgear plant with the one located at Baddi, taking the latter’s total capacity to 6 crore units from the current 4.8 crore,” he adds.
Acknowledging that Sylvania’s business has been significantly affected by the ongoing recession, Gupta said, “Yes, we have felt the pinch in our overall sales. Sales have fallen basically because of the de-stocking effect by most of our trade channel in the third quarter, and the commodity prices fell so sharply that most of the traders started stocking less.”
Given the economic downturn in Europe and Latin America, markets where Sylvania is present, Havells has already activated a restructuring plan for its subsidiary. “The restructuring of our European business is still going on, and the shifting of the UK CFL plant to India is a part of it. We will be looking at more such initiatives in certain other plants depending on the market situation.”
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K-Lite Promotes Energy Efficient Landscape Lighting
Chennai-based lighting major K-Lite Industries is on a drive to
boost its market visibility. In a recent brand building exercise,
it displayed its new range of energy-efficient landscape lighting
at a private day-night exhibition at AIEMA Technology Centre in
Chennai. Over 1,500 outdoor lighting fixtures and concepts drew
the interest of homeowners and town planners alike. The innovative
display allowed visitors to visualise the impact of strategic lighting
in illuminating and enhancing specific areas in gardens, landscapes,
streets, etc. “This exhibition is aimed at drawing public attention
towards the need for proper planning and designing in order to meet
our lighting requirements efficiently. The fact that around 4,500
visitors have come to see this exhibition of lights indicates the
high level of interest and concern the subject of lighting evokes,”
commented Dilip Kumbhat, the company’s managing director. The show,
covering an area of 50,000sft, was inaugurated by A Sankarakrishnan,
managing director of Kone Elevators India, while Dr Avinash Kulkarni,
president, Indian Society of Lighting Engineers, inaugurated K-Lite’s
Illumination Lab. It saw a visitorship of architects, town planners,
interior designers, landscape architects, builders, electrical contractors
and lighting professionals, along with homeowners. “We are happy
that our efforts have helped in increasing awareness of energy-efficient
lighting in Chennai. Our lighting fixtures are designed to provide
better illumination at lower costs.” Keeping in view the environment
needs, battery-powered cars were provided to facilitate movement
of visitors around the show grounds. The three-day Light Show was
also a launching pad for K-Lite’s indigenously designed and developed
products. These included high masts, lighting for pedestrian crossings,
city beautification, wall washers, LED applications, power saving
solutions, lighting accessories and controls. “We have innovated
and come up with a futuristic line-up of lighting solutions for
public places, work areas and homes that will remain contemporary
for the next ten years. This show, the first-of-its-kind in south
India, will give industry players a peep into the future. Lighting
is more than illumination; and lighting needs must be understood
before lamps and fixtures are designed or procured. This is what
we have attempted to put across in this show,”said Kumbhat. K-Lite,
an acknowledged trendsetter, is known for its life-size displays
at various shows, and is even encouraging its dealers to set up
similar displays to attractbuyer interest.
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MRT Offers Technology for Recycling Lamps
 “India
is moving slowly on the path of low carbon lighting. Even as CFLs
are gaining shelf space and replacing incandescent bulbs, the issue
of mercury content still remains unaddressed,” says Christer
Sundberg (christer.sundberg@mrtsystem.com), marketing & sales
director of MRT Systems International AB, a Swedish company that
offers equipment for recycling of lamps.
During a recent visit to New Delhi to participate in ‘India’s
Path Towards Low Carbon Lighting’ conference, Sundberg suggested
that India should harmonise its mercury content parameters with
those of the EU (3-5mg) to avoid receiving lamps with higher mercury
content. “Other countries are evaluating a ban on mercury export,
or a surcharge to make the metal more costly.”
MRT, which was established in 1979, is recognised as one of the
world’s leading supplier of lamp/mercury recycling systems.
It offers compact crush and separation plants (CCS), which have
a unique self-contained processing system for recycling of all types
of discarded fluorescent tubes and lamps. “The crush and sieve
plant is designed for processing large quantities of discarded fluorescent
lamps very safely. It has a capacity to process more than 6,000
tubes per hour. Every unit can be designed and built according to
the processor’s needs. So far, 200 installations have been
done across the globe.”
Sundberg cites a report on global mercury demand produced by environmental
protection agency Maxson PA, which suggests that demand for mercury
is going to increase manifold. The survey shows that global mercury
demand in 2000 was around 3,386 metric tonnes, of which 91 metric
tonnes were consumed for lighting alone. In 2006, the lighting sector
demand increased to 120 tonnes. Interestingly, mercury is also used
widely in electrical and electronicproducts, dental amalgam, batteries,
and small scale gold mining. “In order to minimise existing
mercury volumes inour environment, recycling is the most viable
option.”
Mercury is not the only cause of concern today, when electronic
and electrical waste is rising in volume. Some countries have already
passed a legislation to control pile up of such waste. For instance,
USA has a universal waste rule, Europe has waste electronic &
electrical equipment (WEEE) directives, and Japan has in place a
waste disposal and cleaning law, all of which place the onus of
collection and safe disposal on the manufacturers.
Sundberg informs that the Indian lamp industry, though ready to
participate in the recycling initiative, is not willing to invest
in equipment by itself and wants the government to take the first
step in this direction.
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Landa Finds India’s Lighting Market Lucrative
 Landa
Illuminotecnica SpA, an Italian manufacturer of outdoor, decoration
and architecture lighting, has recently introduced its LED-based
lighting products in India. Says Anthony Labate (export@landa.it),
the company’s export manager, “India is a huge market
and the business prospects look very bright here. And, as a renowned
lighting company, we don’t want to miss this opportunity to
be a part of the country’s growing demand.”
Labate, who was present at Lighting South Asia 2009 in Mumbai to
promote Landa’s product range, informed that the company is
keen on establishing a distribution network in India by the end
of this year. “In order to get going, we need to have a strong
dealer base. We have identified some prospective channel partners
and talks are in progress with them, but agreements are yet to be
finalised.”
Talking about his products, Labate asserts that they are manufactured
with carefully selected materials and adhere to stringent quality
regulations. What’s more, all stages of the production are
carried out within the company’s factory premises so that every
step, from design to production and from final testing to delivery,
can be carefully monitored.
Informs Labate, “Once the manufacturing process is over, the
products are exposed to various quality tests that are carried out
by qualified technicians. And, in the final stages, the products
and their finish are subjected to a visual inspection. All of this
is to guarantee the best performance, durability and reliability.”
The company’s outdoor lighting products range from traditional
to modern as well as technical, and include in-grounds, projectors,
wall lights, bollards and traditional lighting fixtures.
Labate feels that Landa’s products will flourish in the Indian
market because they are cost effective. “Every rational buyer
wants to minimise operational costs. And we can assure that our
products, designed as they are after years of research and taking
into account cost and time savings, will reduce the total cost of
ownership.” The company’s in-house design centre works
to simplify assembly and installation so as to minimise maintenance
and servicing of the products.
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AO Smith Bags Innovation Award
 AO
Smith Corporation, the parent company of AO Smith India Water Heating
Pvt Ltd, has received the prestigious Frost & Sullivan Product
Innovation of the Year Award 2009. This is the second time AO Smith
has received the award in four years. Commenting on the achievement,
David Warren, vice president (international), of AO Smith Water
Products, said, “It is an honour for us. These recognitions
reinforce AO Smith’s promise to deliver innovative technology
and energy efficient water heating products across the globe.”
The company’s selection was based on an analysis of the North
American water heater market by Frost & Sullivan, whose research
analyst, Jorge Moreno, informed that AO Smith scored highest on
services, availability of spare parts, product features and range,
and energy efficiency – aspects that were classified as the
most critical for success by contractors and end-users alike. “Also,
AO Smith brand’s recognition plays an important role in the
purchase decisions of end-users,” he said.
According to Tamal Chaudhuri, national sales & marketing manager
of AO Smith India, the company’s sound understanding of the
industry has enabled it to apply innovative technology to make its
products not only energy-efficient, but also superior in performance.
“This is especially true in case of our India operations. AO
Smith’s products in India are a result of extensive research,
where the products have been tailored to meet different market conditions.
Our facility, which is presently under construction at Harohalli,
Bengaluru, will manufacture water heating products customised for
the Indian market and its ecological conditions. We would like to
emphasise that India is a priority.”
Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Awards recognise companies
in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding
achievement and performance in areas such as leadership, technological
innovation, customer service, and strategic product development.
Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance
through in-depth interviews, and extensive secondary research in
order to identify best practices in the industry.
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Tulip Unveils Designer Lighting
 Tulip
Corporation of Mumbai has launched a new range of designer lighting
products during the recently held Lighting South Asia (LSA) exhibition
at Mumbai. The introduction of this range also marked the emergence
of the company as a mature lighting designer in the fast-growing
market for originality and quality. The newest creations are marked
with straight lines, squares, rectangles, and geometric shapes.
“All our products have been designed in-house by our R&D
section,” says director Rashmi Bhuta (rashmi@tulipcorporation.net).
He informs that while earlier Tulip was engaged in customised manufacturing,
now it is swiftly building up its own ranges of pendants, wall and
ceiling lights, recessed lights and garden lights. “All of
them have been designed to fit into distinct styles to match contemporary
interiors.”
Tulip has developed extensive products for indoor and outdoor application
in residential and commercial projects, hospitality sector, and
even for interiors of commercial vehicles. According to Bhuta, Tulip
designs received an impressive response from visitors at LSA, and
generated numerous trade andproject inquiries. On being quizzed
ifthis was the right time to launch design based products, he replied,
“In fact, thisis the best time to be competitive bybringing
in newer varieties at more affordable prices.”
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CRI Bags Export Award Yet Again
 Coimbatore-based
CRI Pumps Pvt Ltd, which is known to be amongst the few manufacturers
who have pioneered the concept of 100% stainless steel submersible
pumps, has bagged the prestigious Engineering Export Promotion Council
(EEPC) India award for the fifth time in a row. In recognition of
its contribution to engineering exports during 2006-07, CRI Pumps
has been awarded the Silver Shield for Star Performer in the large
enterprise category. It is notable that the company has been receiving
this award every year since 2002-03. G Selvaraj, the company’s joint
managing director, received this award from Elamaram Kareem, minister
for industries, government of Kerala at the award ceremony held
at Trivandrum in February this year. According to Selvaraj, CRI
Pumps, which was established in 1961 for producing irrigation equipment,
new offers morethan 1,000 models of pumps and motors. “We started
exporting around a decade ago and presently have very quality conscious
customers all over the world.” The company has a production capacity
of over 75,000 pumps per annum at its 10,00,000-sft manufacturing
facility in Coimbatore.
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