JOIN USThe lighting business of Rs 8,000 crore Havells India, which is estimated to be about Rs 1,000 crore, is set to grow by 40% in 2018, driven by Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology.
The company is in the process of signing an agreement with a European company to import parts and technological know-how to incorporate PoE in its offerings. Havells India Business Head (Lighting) Ajay Saraf told DH “India accounts for about 12% of the global LED requirement. PoE is a technological advancement that helps improve efficiency. While LED itself contributes to 50% savings in electricity bills, PoE will add another 35-40% on that.”
About 40% of the corporate and office spaces in India go unutilised. PoE technology in lighting equipment will enable space optimisation by detecting physical movement in the space; it will also enable reduction in carbon footprint by detecting carbon-dioxide emission. The technology further enables optimisation of power usage through daylight harvesting (optimisting brightness of lights depending on natural light in the room).
Saraf said, “While the technology demands about 20-30% higher investment, the returns on investment can be recorded in about two-and-a-half years. We are talking about the technology vociferously in India.”
The company is betting significantly on corporate clientele in IT hubs of the country -- Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram and Mumbai. It is estimating about 10-12% of the total business to be generated from this technology in the first year itself.
“We are expecting highest traction from Bengaluru because office and corporate spaces are advanced. We have estimated 10% of the demand from the city,” Saraf added. Havells is already running a pilot phase for the technology in Bengaluru.