The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to install LED bulbs in all panchayats in the State to save energy as well as power bills of gram panchayats.
The government is making necessary arrangements for the installation of LED bulbs to enhance the lighting conditions in the villages. As part of the efforts, the Panchayat Raj department will enter into MoU with M/s.EESL, GoI and APSEEDCO on Monday at the chamber of Minister for Rural Development and IT Nara Lokesh chambers at Velagapudi.
Out of the total scope of 3 million LED streetlights across all the villages of the State, in the initial phase, M/s. EESL and APSEEDCo shall install one million streetlights in seven districts Guntur, Nellore, Kurnool, Kadapa, Chittoor, Anantapur and Prakasam.
NREDCAP shall install 5 lakh streetlights in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari districts. This exercise will help panchayats to save Rs 770 million every year. Minister for Panchayat Raj Nara Lokesh on Sunday directed the officials to complete installation of 1 million LED streetlights in 7,094 gram panchayats of 7 districts within a period of 9 months in the initial phase.
These streetlights would be installed by M/s. Energy efficiency Services ltd, Govt. of India in co-ordination with APSEEDCO, Government of Andhra Pradesh, as a consequence of the MoU signed during the CII Partnership summit-2017, Vizag. As part of the project, the State government is going to spend around Rs 3,000 crore for overall development of villages.
Lokesh has directed the authorities to roll out a special plan to involve the public representatives like Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, sarpanches and local leaders in installation of LED bulbs for street lighting.Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday conducted a meeting with the top officials and discussed the installation of LED lamps in villages.
With zero-upfront investment by the State government, the Panchayat LED street lighting is being implemented in an unique economic model, wherein 20 per cent of the deemed savings under the project shall be shared with the panchayats as a part of economic support to the gram panchayats, while the remaining 80 per cent of the savings will serve as a re-payment to M/s. EESL, Government of India, which will invest the entire project cost upfront.
