Nirupam Sahay, President, Philips Lighting India, “As an industry leader, Philips has taken the lead in making a couple of representations to the Finance and Power Ministry, which will in turn help the government in reducing the gap between energy supply and energy demand. Firstly, we have proposed for a reduction in the excise duty payable on the energy efficient lamps – T5 and T8, which is currently 12.36%. On the lines of the reduction which the industry received last year on LED lamps, Philips has gone back to the government for extending the same benefit to T5 and T8 lamps, which are highly energy efficient lighting solutions. We have put forward a case on how this reduction will help drive the conversion from T12 to T5 and T8 lamps, which will save a lot of government spend that will have to be otherwise made on setting up thermal power plants to generate more electricity.
Secondly, in the case of LEDs, presently we have an inverted duty structure on some of the components, which basically means that the duty payable on the components procured for the finished product is higher than the duty which is paid on the finished products. We have pointed out these anomalies to the government, and we have requested for a reduction in the excise duty on the components so that it comes down to the same level as that of the duty on the finished product”.
