India today, is in a sweet spot with respect to IoT. Going beyond the typical use cases, industry leaders are using IoT to radically change their business models. A case in point is the Mahindra & Mahindra Group, which is using IoT intelligently to bring in a differentiated experience for vehicle owners. Using this platform, vehicle owners or drivers can contact emergency breakdown services or pull up a route planner at the touch of a button. Remote diagnostics and reports allow service teams to monitor a vehicle’s health parameters on a real time basis.
Blue Star, one of the most well known air conditioning brands in India, uses IoT to provide proactive predictive maintenance services and use the data collected to prevent further issues in its chillers. Sheela Foam, One of the largest manufacturers of mattresses, uses IoT to provide personalised mattresses to its customers. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has launched a service called IoT powered service called, DriveSmart, which helps customers monitor their driving habits. Good driving behaviour gets rewarded with discounts.
IoT also has great potential in the area of smart cities. The Jamshedpur Utility Services Company (JUSCO) is creating the world’s first integrated city management project using more than 1,00,000 sensors. One of the major highlights of this project is a smart lighting system that uses IoT to reduce maintenance costs and save energy. Because of complete monitoring, the company estimates cost savings of around 700 Rs per light. The company plans to install a total of 15,000 lights in the next five years. Similarly, the Smart City Ahmedabad Development Corporation (SCADL, is using IoT to monitor garbage vans and optimise routes for garbage collection. The corporation also uses IoT enabled parking sensors to create new parking spaces and monitor new and existing parking spaces.
While there are many use cases, the real potential of the technology is shown by some niche start-ups that are attacking unique problems. Take for instance, a startup called Tyre Express, which has created an IoT based solution that truck or fleet operators can use to track the performance of their tyres in real-time. Another firm, called Wolkus Technology has developed an IoT platform that uses sensors to monitor critical farm related parameters such as humidity, agriculture and soil moisture.
IoT is today at a stage where cloud was about a decade back. Once India has more reference use cases, one can expect the adoption of IoT to accelerate further.