Wipro Lighting to set up unit in Himachal

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting is setting up a manufacturing facility at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.

According to an official statement today by the company, the facility, to be operational by the end of the year, will manufacture the entite range of Wipro Lighting and will cater to the North India market.

"The decision to set up  a facility at Baddi was guided by the market trend and the availability of tax concessions," Rajesh Kochhar, chief executive, commercial & institutional business, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting, said today, at the 'Wipro Light Show 2006'.

The new manufacturing line has been set up within the existing factory premises of the company where soaps and fatty acids are manufactured.

Kochar did not disclose the details about the investment in the lightings plant or the capacity created.

Talking of the various initiatives taken by the company for commercial and institutional segments, Kochar mentioned the new range of architectural lighting for the booming retail segment and other commercial establishments, adding: "Lighting is one of the critical parameter in creating the right kind of ambience in a shopping space and to increase footfalls."

The company demonstrated its latest Light Emitting Diodes (LED) based fixtures that it intends to market as solutions for creating special effects including downlighting, facade and interior walkthrough.

"The proportion of this business to the total business is very smal at the moment, but there is a lot of scope to educate the consumers and expand the market," Kochar said. The company is presently importing the light source from Luxion, US and intgrating it with its fittings, Kochar explained, adding that it will need very big investment to make the light source in India as the market size will not justify the investments for many years to come.

Enthused by the success of its intelligent lighting solution for Delhi Metro, Wipro is aggressively looking at infrastructure projects such as airport modernisation and metro rail projects in different Indian cities, said Kochar.