Minister dedicates 4,611 smart LED streelights to Ara residents

Speed Post News Network

Patna : Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Government of India, R K Singh, on March 17, 2018, dedicated 4,611 smart and energy-efficient LED lights to the people of Ara, Bihar.

These LED lights were installed in a record time of just three weeks under the Street Light National Programme (SLNP) of the Ministry of Power, Government of India. Ara Municipal Corporation (AMC) is expected to save 27 lakh kWh energy/year, and Rs 13.6 crore over seven years., according to a PIB release

Speaking on the occasion, Minister R K Singh said, “It is a moment of great pride and joy to dedicate the smart, future-ready and energy-efficient LED streetlights to the people of Ara. These lights will not only illuminate the streets but also enable better and safe mobility for the citizens. I commend the efforts of Ara Municipal Corporation and EESL for their relentless work to complete the installation of smart LED street lights in a record time. I am sure such commitment and effort will be replicated across Bihar.”

“The government is working effortlessly to integrate centre, state and the industry through this programme. This collaboration is leading to better opportunities for consumers to enable savings as well as help the nation towards energy sufficiency and cleaner environment,” he added.

SLNP is the world’s largest streetlight replacement programme being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)- a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. The Government of Bihar had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2017 with EESL to retrofit and install approximately 3 lakh conventional street lights with LEDs in all 38 districts. Within a record time of only three weeks, EESL has replaced 4,611 conventional lights with LEDs and completed the infrastructure work for segregation of street light circuit from normal electricity distribution circuit in the city.

As a part of this drive, EESL is collaborating with all 143 ULBs in 38 districts of Bihar including 12 Nagar Nigams, 46 Nagar Parishads and 85 Nagar Panchayats. Once all these conventional street lights are replaced with LEDs, these LED lights will help the ULBs as well as the nation to save over 7 crore deemed units of energy annually.The retrofitting drive will also lead to an annual reduction of over 57,400 tonnes of CO2 playing a crucial role in India’s climate goals.

These ‘smart lights’ are connected through a web-based monitoring system that enables remote operations and additional operational savings. EESL has installed 89 panels of Centralised Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) with GIS mapping for remote control and monitoring of street lights.

Suresh Kumar Sharma, Minister for Urban Development & Housing Department, Government of Bihar, and Rajeev Sharma, Chairman, EESL, were among the dignitaries present at the event.