Eyeing a big pie in the government's ambitious programme to develop 100 smart cities, leading electrical goods maker Havells is working on wireless lighting solutions.
"We are already developing technologies where the street lights could communicate. There would be chip or wireless communication in those. We already have those models," Havells India CMD Anil Rai Gupta told PTI.
He further added: "What we are doing for the smart cities,
we are developing our lighting to be wirelessly wired and communicate with each other and also in home automation, they (government) are bringing in a big way."
Havells, a USD 1.4 billion company, had in April this year acquired a majority stake in Bangalore-based LED and solar light manufacturer Promptec Renewable Energy Solutions.
On being asked whether the company would go solo or form any joint venture to bid for the projects, Gupta said it would depend on the nature of tenders.
"That needs to be seen, how the requirements are coming up. Whether it will be sourced directly by the government or it would be the individual owners, who would be pioneer. It all depends on how it come up," Gupta said.
The government last month came out with a list of 98 cities to be developed under its ambitious Smart Cities mission. These cities together have a population of 13 crore, accounting for 35 per cent of India's urban population.
On the M-SIPS scheme (modified special incentive package scheme), Gupta said the programme has been extended by the government by another five years and it will help further boost manufacturing in the electronics sector.
He also added: "We would not get any immediate benefits from this, it's an overall thing for the industry. But definitely, we would take its advantage when new things would be coming."
The Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme provides subsidy for investments in capital expenditure which is 20 per cent for investments in special economic zones (SEZs) and 25 per cent in non-SEZs. It also provides for reimbursement of countervailing duty or excise for capital equipment for the non-SEZ units.
When asked, if the company was planning to open any export oriented unit in any of the SEZs, Gupta replied in the negative.
"No, presently our exports are about 8 to 10 per cent of our overall business. What we find the benefits out of SEZ, we would get more benefits from consolidated manufacturing facilities as cost advantage is much better," Gupta said.
