2 lakh street lights replaced in South Delhi; Rs. 135 crore to be saved in next 7 years

NEW DELHI (INDIA): India’s Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines Minister Piyush Goyal dedicated the LED based Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), currently running in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) area, to the Nation here today. It is the World?sLargestStreet Light Replacement Programme, which is being implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture under the Ministry of Power, Government of India.nnThe SLNP programme is presently running in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. A total of 15.59 lakh street lights have already been replaced in the country with LED bulbs, which is resulting in energy savings of 20.66 crore kWh, avoiding capacity of 51.47 MW and reducing 1.71 lakh tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum. The energy efficiency market in India is estimated at US$ 12 billion that can potentially result in energy savings of up to 20 per cent of current consumption, by way of innovative business and implementation models.nnWhile addressing the gathering, Goyal said that this Government does not believe in taking money from the people, on one hand, and subsidizing their electricity bills, on the other. Rather, the Government believes in empowering the people and the power infrastructure in the country so as to make available 24×7 Affordable, Quality Power to all Citizens of the country.nnThe Minister added that the residents of SDMC area would benefit from the LED Street Lighting Programme as it would lead to a reduction in dark spots and increased security. Further, he added that the cumulative savings of Rs. 135 crore in next 7 years and Rs. 50 crore per annum beyond that, through this programme, would help in investment in social development initiatives and that too without the people needing to spend any extra money.nnUnder the SLNP, SDMC area alone accounts for over 2 lakh street light replacements. The cumulative annual energy savings in SDMC through this programme is 2.65 crore kWh which has helped to avoid capacity addition of 6.6 MW, resulting in a daily reduction of 22,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases.nnThe Minister inaugurated the Phase II of the street lighting programme, under which EESL has signed a tripartite agreement with BSES and SDMC to install 75,000 more street lights with more focus on installation in parks.nnIn the SDMC Project, EESL is addressing complaints from various sources viz., registered from BSES helpline, night patrolling team by EESL, mobile vans, e-mails, social media and other sources including Ward Councilors.nnAdditionally, EESL is putting stringent complaint redressal mechanism and Centralized Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) to enable remote operation and monitoring of the street lights. CCMS provides real time information on energy consumption and remote monitoring of the street lights.nnOn the occasion, Goyal launched the mobile app called EESL SL Complaint App for SDMC, wherein users can now lodge complaints about faulty street lights. These complaints will be addressed to within a period of 48 hours. Consumers can also WhatsApp on the helpline numbers 7827999111/ 7827999222 or they can send their complaints to sdmc@eesl.co.in.nOther dignitaries present on the occasion included Members of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi and Manoj Tiwari,  Saurabh Kumar, MD, EESL, Ashwini Kumar, MD, Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI) along with other officers of EESL, SDMC and members of the Resident Welfare Associations under SDMC area.