Andhra Pradesh, which is leading the country with installation of 9.19 lakh LED streetlights in urban and rural areas so far, is contemplating to create world record by installing total 30 lakh LED street lights across the State with the help of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL).
Hans India reported that Energy department said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced another 15 lakh street lights (out of total target of 30 Lakh) to rural areas as a gift of Ugadi, as part of efforts to make AP as one of the best energy efficient States in the world.
This will significantly change the appearance of villages and lead to brighter streets and enhance a feeling of safety and security among residents eventually giving people a better quality of life. Gram panchayats are also expected to get a net financial benefit of Rs.500 crore and energy savings of 333 MU in the next 10 years with this initiative.
Under the Street Light National Programme (SNLP), Andhra Pradesh leads the country with an installation of 9.19 lakh LED street lights followed by Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh with 8.9 lakh, 8.2 lakh, 7.78 lakh and 4.23 lakh respectively.
Minister for Panchayat Raj & Rural Development N Lokesh directed the Principal Secretary to PR & RD to adopt integrated approach and follow run rate mechanism for speedy implementation of LEDs in gram panchayats.
He also suggested to EESL, AP DISCOMs, APSEEDCO & NREDCAP to prepare an action plan to achieve the desired target of LEDs as per schedule and said that the Chief Minister was very keen to complete the LED programme in all the gram panchayats by November 2018.
The project aims to retrofit around 30 lakh conventional streetlights in 13,000-gram panchayats of 13 districts in the State. Installation of 9.19 lakh LED streetlights (3.8 lakh in villages) has been completed so far and it will be one of the biggest rural LED programmes in the world.
The Principal Secretary to PR & RD told the Minister that MD of EESL, Saurabh Kumar and AFD Bank agreed to provide a financial assistance of around Rs 1,000 crore for implementation of the EE projects in the State, reported Hans India.
