PHD Chamber of Commerce organized a conference on Bright Prospects of Make In India LED Manufacturing on 14th August 2015 at PHD House, New Delhi. Five students Aishwarya Kharbanda (15700), Akshant Gupta (15702), Himanshu Chugh (15711), Mayank Kaushal (15717) and Vibhu Chinmay (15737) from Electronics and Computer Engineering Department of Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurgaon attended a one day conference.

The Conference aimed to look at suggestions and recommendations from various stakeholders in LED manufacturing as well as Electronics industry as to how LED Technology in future can become the primary source of power in India. The following topics were also discussed at the conference:

1. How small and medium enterprises can be encouraged to take up its manufacturing as it would benefit a large part of the rural India where the concept of LED has not set in as widely as it has in the urban India.

2. Creating National technical standards so that more people are aware about the exact specifications required for an LED to boost its manufacturing in India.

3. Creation of Testing facilities like Labs, Workshops which will further provide an impetus to manufacturing

The main participants of the conference were Govt. Officials, Policy Makers, LED Manufacturers , Electrical Hardware Manufacturers, Academicians , Researchers and Technology Providers.

Technology used: LED is based on the semiconductor diode. When a diode is forward biased (Switchedon), electrons are able to recombine with holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is called electroluminescence and the color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photon) is determined by the energy gap of the semiconductor.

The Chief Guest of the conference was Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Honorable Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Govt of India. He discussed the current status of electronics industry which has been growing on a rapid evolution from thick to thin films. He said the concept of LED in India has been a slow starter compared to China, USA and European Countries which have embraced this technology and are using it extensively in their countries. Some European countries have banned Incandescent bulbs which goes on to show their seriousness and conviction in this technology.

The Guest of Honor was Shri Ram Sewak Sharma, Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology. He shared his views on different stakeholders involved in LED manufacturing and suggested solutions especially in light of domestic manufacturing suffering due to imports from China. He added that today LED Market is one of the fastest growing industries in India. The industry has majorly been driven by factors such as falling prices of LED lights, increasing initiatives taken by the government and rising concerns with respect to energy conservation. Today turnover of Indian LED market is around $143 million (Rs 912 crore). Business is expected to grow at a CAGR of 47.3 % between now and 2018 to touch $1.3 billion (8298 crore).

The speakers also pointed out the benefits of LED lighting:

1. Small Size

2. Low Energy Consumption

3. Improved Robustness

4. Longer Life Span

5. Better durability and reliability

6. No Ballast Noise

7. No Radiation

8. No Ultra Violet Effect

9. Faster Switching

Dr. Ajay Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, DEITY gave a special address to the participants by explaining how to create national technical standards so that more people are aware about the exact specifications required for an LED to boost its manufacturing in India. It also involved creation of testing facilities like labs, workshops which will further provide an impetus to manufacturing. He said the electronics development fund (EDF) will also become operational from next month to support venture capitalists to fund electronic manufacturing in general and LED in particular.

It came out from the discussions that what had led to the increase in demand of LED:

1. Mandatory Energy Efficiency regulations for new buildings and facilities

2. More Investments in Green Buildings

3. Large size of Real Estate Market in India

4. Growing Interest among Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail and IT industry

5. Demand from institutions, industries and corporate houses

Mr. Kumar further added that investment proposals worth Rs. 1,10,000 crore have been received by the Government in the electronics sector.

The outcome of the session was enhanced knowledge of these initiatives in the field of electronics and an insight into what policies and measures are being adopted by the government to make specific recommendations to DEITY and other stakeholders on how domestic manufacturing can be encouraged. It has been a great experience to be part of this conference.