Since the invention of the electric bulb, innovations in incandescent light bulb technology have lit human lives. Now, LEDs being the latest juggernaut, the vast lighting industry is churning ideas from which more efficient materials for manufacturing LEDs can be derived shaping further the LED market. Messe Frankfurt LED Expo 2022, Mumbai was one such platform that brought wholesalers, retailers, architects, lighting engineers & many other profiles in one place. During the recent LED EXPO – Mumbai, 2022 – TimesTech exclusively interacted with Mr. Raj Manek, Executive Director and Board Member of Messe Frankfurt Asia Holding Limited to know his expert thoughts about the transforming lighting industry, visitors they expected and footfall, also what has made the show the first choice for the whole LED industry. The whole interview can be read here:
TimesTech: After the pandemic, how many visitors are you expecting for LED Expo 2022?
Raj: Always going ahead of our expectation, our pre-registrations already have crossed 15000 people. Hence, the footfall has been always encouraging and the crowd is appropriately complementing the needs of our exhibitors.
TimeTech: What do you think about the post-pandemic scenario for the Indian industry?
Raj: I think the Indian industry looks very positive if I look at the European situation it is quite down. But from an Indian perspective, the economy is growing, and the lighting industry is growing at a very high rate. Even in India, you are seeing a growth rate of 12-15% CAGR. So, I think the industry here is buoyant. LED has transformed India over a very short space of time. I think you have 88% of people now across the country who are on LED lighting rather than CFL light. It is the fastest change from CFL to LED anywhere in the world. So, I think you got a very-very buoyant and good future here.
The whole Interview can be viewed here:
TimeTech: What are other innovations that other companies showcased here in the LED expo 2022?
Raj: The major level of innovations shown here is in smart technologies, smart homes, and smart lighting. So, a lot of companies did come here because of the growing development and construction of hospitals, offices, schools as well as homes which are swiftly opting for not only LED lighting but smart lighting. Energy conservation is another key factor which has been the pivotal focus of the show. On the other hand, smart lighting in the streets is taking time but the building lighting is moving onto smart lighting so we have got a lot of smart lighting and automation solution being shown at the LED [expo]. Also, what’s good to see today is the growing demand for smart lighting in hospitals, railway stations, hospitals, and commercial buildings.
TimesTech: How do you foresee the entire value chain of the industry?
Raj: Today the value chain is imminent and LED EXPO has been frontier bringing the players catering for the entire value chain. Once the industry was stuck because we were dependent on the import of certain products and those imports were undeniable to finish the final products. Today, I see a drastic change happening here in India where we are going to become self-sufficient and we will start manufacturing a lot of those products here in India itself which will then change the way we are dependent on others. This will also lower our costs making LED products and smart products much-much cheaper. I think then the next will be that we will also be a major exporter and I think you’ll have international players and customers coming to India for sourcing.
TimesTech: Moving on to our last question, what is the next venue for the LED expo?
Raj: We will have the next big light and LED show in November in Delhi later this year.
