SEMI announces formation of India SSL special interest group

BENGALURU, INDIA: SEMI India announced the formation of a Special Interest Group on high-brightness light-emitting diodes (HB-LEDs) and solid state lighting (SSL).

The new SEMI SSL Special Interest Group in India will focus on materials, equipment and manufacturing issues to further promote the industry—through cost reduction, quality improvement, supply chain development, and industry promotion. The new group comprises both SEMI members and key industry leaders in the HB-LED market.

At its inaugural meeting, the Special Interest Group discussed its priorities for the next year, enabling the SSL industry to expand and flourish in India. The group will host an industry forum at the upcoming SOLARCON India 2011 (November 9-11) in Hyderabad which will focus on SSL technology with speakers from LED manufacturers, LED suppliers, researchers and others. Attendees are expected to be from academia, government, local entrepreneurs and lighting manufacturers.

The group will also push for developing an eco-system for the emerging SSL manufacturing industry in India. Given the significant growth opportunities and enormous societal benefits of rapid adoption of SSL technology, SEMI has increased its services to members in the LED industry over the last few years.

SEMI now offers numerous LED events and services, including exhibitions, pavilions, webinars, standards, industry/market research (including an Opto/LED fab database), and industry advocacy on a global basis.

The India LED lighting market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 41.5 percent to reach $399 million by 2015, according to Frost & Sullivan. Industry estimates suggest that the market share of LEDs will rise to 15-20 percent of the overall lighting industry by 2014 from a current 2-3 percent market share. LED lighting will play a major role in the adoption of energy efficient products to mitigate the challenges of climate change, which the Indian government aggressively pursues.

Recently, the Government of India announced the reduction in excise duty on LED lights/lighting fixtures from 8 percent to 4 percent, on par with compact fluorescent lamps to promote the LED industry. LEDs are poised to replace conventional general lighting service (GLS), compact fluorescent (CFL) and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps in many key applications like street lighting, display backlighting and more. Currently, LED chips are imported from countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Germany and the US. The prices are currently high due to low levels of consumption and usage.

"With the new LED/SSL Special Interest Group in India, we will gain additional recognized expertise and leadership to help nurture the fledgling LED industry in India. We look forward to the group’s industry insights and strategic guidance, as we navigate the SSL industry in India and drive for its growth and profitability," commented Debasish Paul Choudhury, president of SEMI India.

The initial group will include manufacturing and equipment companies and materials suppliers as well as the government. Founding SEMI SSL Special Interest Group members include:

* Hari Kiran Chereddi, managing director of Sujana Energy Ltd.
* K. Vijay Kumar Gupta, managing director of Kwality Photonics Pvt Ltd.
* P.S. Narotra, senior director at the Department of IT, Government of India
* Sanjeev Nimkar, marketing director at Philips Electronics India (Lighting Divn.).
* Dr. G. Rajeswaran, group CTO of Moser Baer India Ltd.
* D.J. Rao, business consultant based in Hyderabad with ties to Toshniwal Bros.

SEMI has established HB-LED events, advisory committees, task forces and/or special interest groups in China, Europe, Korea, Taiwan and the United States.