The infrastructure network is undoubtedly the backbone of a strong economy, as it plays an important role in enhancing the productivity and operations of virtually every business sector. Countries with world-class infrastructure are invariably rated higher on the global ease of doing business index and can attract significant foreign investment, as a result. Investments in this sector also have the potential to lift the GDP of a country significantly, as it has a cascading effect on all sectors, big or small. India has defined an ambitious mission to become a US$ 5 trillion economy by 2024-25 and one of the key enablers for this plan will be the development of a world-class infrastructure network. The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) aims at investing over Rs. 111 trillion into several infrastructure projects between 2019 and 2025 and to meet this need, the Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has announced the PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity. The core idea behind this masterplan is tobring 16 ministries including Railways and Roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. The multi-modal connectivity will provide integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another. It will facilitate the last mile connectivity of infrastructure and also reduce travel time for people. Without adequate illumination on roads, ports or even airport runways the term infrastructural development remains incomplete. Lighting is a key enabler that can enhance both the safety and productivity of transportation networks and hubs. Every project listed under the PM Gati Shakti program can immensely benefit from sustainable, energy efficient and productive lighting solutions, tailored to each network. With energy savings of up to 80 per cent and the potential to save 100 megatons of GHG emissions per year, LED and connected lighting is a quick and easy win for sustainable renovation, smart cities, and building the digital infrastructure that a growing economy requires. Apart from supporting India’s infrastructural growth curve, LED lighting can also help the country meet its sustainability goal to transition to net zero emissions by 2070, hitting two birds with one stone. Though increased adoption of LED is already being witnessed across commercial, residential and government sectors, we are also seeing an increasing demand for IoT integrated connected lighting systems from upcoming smart city projects. Connected LED lighting system and management systems such as Interact City offer smart cities a robust infrastructure to improve city services, improve citizen safety, beautify public spaces, engage with citizens and encourage civic pride. They can also reduce energy costs and increases efficiency so that municipal corporations can reinvest savings into new smart city projects. In fact, LED and connected lighting offer one of the simplest and most often overlooked paths to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a city. LED-based connected lighting systems combine smart scene management with highly energy-efficient streetlights, using up to 70 per cent less energy than their conventional counterparts. Illumination is not merely limited to the tangible benefits we can favorably derive for the economy; it also extends to improving the safety of public areas while contributing to the establishment of smart and empowered cities. Technologies like Interact City (IoT lighting) can adeptly manage, monitor, and control all street lighting, façade lighting, and public indoor lighting of a city, remotely via map-based dashboards, which can push energy savings to 80 per cent or more. The possibilities offered by the lighting industry are limitless and with the right governmental support, we will be one step closer to building smarter and greener cities. While the lighting industry suffered a major setback during the pandemic, it is now witnessing green shoots of recovery owing to revival of an array of infrastructure projects. As per a KPMG report on ‘Reviving the construction sector in India post COVID-19’, total projects worth more than `59,000 billion that were under construction before the pandemic hit. While work on most of these projects is well into the next phase, it can be safe to say that the requirement for sustainable and cost-efficient lighting solutions will only increase in the future. Furthermore, announcements made in Union Budget 2021-22 to support initiatives like ‘Housing for All’ and ‘Smart Cities Mission’ have given a much-needed impetus to the construction and infrastructure sectors. Government intent and private participation will play an important role in ensuring that this growth is sustainable and future-proof. For India to maintain a sustainable economic progress and competitive advantage, it is essential that the country builds a strong infrastructure at a noticeable scale and speed along with deployment of innovative technologies such as IoT. Implementing smart city solutions, building citizen confidence around such solutions, proper planning at every level and strengthening social infrastructure with technological capabilities will be success barometers of the PM Gati Shakti vision. And lighting undoubtedly will have a major role to play in enabling the success of this mission. By: Sumit Joshi, CEO & MD, Signify, South Asia