How many Indians will it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Very soon, none, provided the light bulb is the old-fashioned, tungsten filament kind. Because the traditional light bulb, also called the incandescent or Edison bulb, is finally dying in India, some years after its death was announced in the West, in China and in Latin American countries such as Brazil and Venezuela.
This year will see the death of 100-watt bulbs, as production will stop; 60-watt bulbs will die in 2016, and 40-watt bulbs in 2017. That's the plan India's lighting industry is working on, according to Sunil Sikka, president of the 68-company Electric Lamp & Component Manufacturers Association (ELCOMA). India still has around 700 million Edison bulbs in use and LED bulbs account for only Rs 1,780 crore of the Rs 12,000-crore lighting business.
But experts predict by 2020, this old-fashioned lighting option will be all but gone. Demand for old fashioned bulbs is stagnant for two years, indicating that a change is already underway as CFL and LED bulbs have been making their entry into higher-income households. But in a price-conscious country with millions of low-income households, a big phase-out of the cheap 'yellow' bulb needed a big push. And that is now happening — a massive government order for LED bulbs for 100 cities.
More at: Government push to LED bulbs starts bringing down prices; industry phasing out tungsten bulbs - Economic Times
