Philips shows the light at the Gateway of India

The lights will be donated to the monument and are expected to stay for about 15 years.

Philips India had taken it upon itself to light up the two most visited and most talked about monuments in the biggest cities of the country. After lighting up the India Gate in Delhi earlier this month, the company, in association with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, lit up the Gateway of India.

The company has taken up the initiative to gift the lighting to these monuments, in addition to the effort of showcasing its new age technology. The software-led changes in colours and extra effects to the LED set-up will be promoted through the initiative.

The advanced LED lighting system offers a palette of 16 million shades to illuminate the Gateway of India. The entire effort comes at a cost of about Rs 2 crore for the company, albeit with no 'branding' at the venue; however, a simple plate will mention that the lighting is gifted by the company.

Dr Jagdish Patil, managing director, MTDC, says, "For tourists as well as Mumbaikars, the Gateway of India has been a favourite place to hang around and spend time in leisure. It is the highest footfall monument in the city. Besides, the monument is one of the most important photographic icons of Mumbai."

Patil adds that this is the first time that a brand has approached the department for Gateway of India association.

It may be recalled that the company had recently launched a campaign with Ranbir Kapoor to promote the lighting system. It also lit up a few other monuments including the Salt lake Stadium in Kolkata as a part of business deals.

Philips Color Kinetics utilises the latest advancements in LED technology to create more light, while making it more focused and controlled. The lighting system allows minimal light spill, directing light exactly where it is needed. With the new LED fixtures, a beautiful monument can be easily automated in real-time by a computer control system to create unique light shows with varied effects like ripple, cross-fade, particle and burst. The system will also simplify the maintenance schedule, as well as monitor unforeseen issues such as power outages.

There are various products from the Philips Color Kinetics and LED street lighting line that have been used to light up the monument and the adjoining landscape. In all, approximately 132 light points have been created to bring the right kind of lighting effect. The new lighting system is 60 per cent more energy efficient than the older lighting system, which means that the energy consumption by lighting at the monument and surrounding landscape has been reduced to 13KW now from 32KW earlier, while the light output is clearly much brighter and aesthetically more appealing.

Sumit Joshi, head, marketing, Philips Lighting India, adds that the lights can be lit up for 50,000-80,000 hours which can last for about 15 years, if lit up for eight hours a day. "There are software to keep adding the effects and colours to the Gateway of India; it is a classical architecture. Counted among the architectural heritage of India, this structure is of greater historical importance to the city of Mumbai."

The company will maintain these lights and all the fixtures for a period of one year.

Interestingly, the Maharashtra Government had launched a scheme called 'adopt a monument' for the state-notified monuments. Patil adds that the state has a rich heritage value with 50 per cent of the forts of India and 80 per cent of the caves being located in Maharashtra.