Delhi municipal corporations switch to LED lights to cut costs

South Delhi Municipal Corporation has already replaced around 1.5 lakhs conventional lights with LED lights

In a bid to cut expenditure on street lights and save power, the municipal corporations are adopting LEDs on a large scale.

South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has already replaced around 1.5 lakhs conventional lights with LED lights — which have longer working efficiency and less power consumption.

"We expect to replace the rest of 48,000 streetlights very soon and the total number of LED lights installed may go up from 1.98 lakhs to over 2.05 lakhs owing to coverage of parks and religious places," said South Delhi mayor Subhash Arya.

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The move will help SDMC in saving expenditure on electricity consumed by streetlight besides earning carbon credits as it will reduce carbon emission, he said.

The councillors of 104 wards under SDMC will be provided with 100 LEDs each to be installed according to requirements in their respective wards.

In East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), 1346 LEDs have been installed, said a senior EDMC officer, adding that upto 50% electricity is save by the use of LEDs in place of traditional Sodium lights.

The civic body has demanded Rs 130 crore from the central government for replacing traditional lighting sources with LEDs, he said.

The standing committee of North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has recently passed a proposal for replacement of around 1.03 lakh streetlights with LEDs.

"Earlier, the services of a government agency was planned to be hired for this work but now the standing committee has decided to hire a private agency due to lower cost of LEDs," said a senior NDMC official.

The work is likely to begin soon after completion of tendering process in this regard, he added.