In 2015, the Government of India launched a domestic efficient lighting program to promote the use of LED lamps in India. Under this program, the government supplies LED lights at subsidised prices in order to encourage people to use LEDs, as these are more energy efficient compared to other light sources. This will also help the government to reduce the sales of incandescent lights, which consume much higher energy compared to CFL or LED. This was not the first time that the Government of India had taken such steps to reduce the use of incandescent lamps. To reduce the use of incandescent bulbs and increase the demand for CFL, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency initiated a campaign in 2009 called Bachat Lamp Yojana. They selected suppliers from across the country, which supply CFL bulbs at Rs15 in exchange for an incandescent bulb. The effect was evident over the review period and by 2014, a 65% share of retail value sales in overall lighting was held by compact fluorescent lamps (CFL).
Home & Garden in India market – YoY Growth Comparison
Although incandescent lamps are banned in many countries, they are still used in many rural parts of India and also in some urban areas. These lamps are very cheap compared to CFL and LED but have a much shorter life and consume more power. With India being a developing country and disposable incomes and literacy rate being low as compared to other Asian countries like China, Malaysia and Singapore, consumers are attracted to short- term benefits and still purchase cheaper incandescent bulbs. In order to control the use of incandescent lamps in India more initiatives are necessary from the government.
The government also launched the Swatch Bharat campaign in 2014. Through this campaign the government aims to construct “12 crore toilets” across rural India by 2 Oct 2019. According to Euromonitor International’s data, almost 70% of the population was rural in 2011 and according to a 2011 census; 69% of rural India did not have proper sanitation facilities. The lack of sanitation causes many diseases and spreads infection, which has encouraged the government to launch this campaign. It is helping to educate local people to understand the importance of sanitation, which increases the demand for sanitaryware products.
During the review period, current value sales of bathroom and sanitaryware grew the fastest within home improvement and companies such as Cera Sanitaryware Ltd, HSIL Ltd, Kohler India Pvt Ltd and Parryware Roca Pvt Ltd outperformed the overall home and garden segment.