Indian government incentives and policies has resulted in the large number of LED streetlight projects in the country, with many new developments each week. Varanasi is still behind schedule when it comes to streetlight upgrades, while Ambattur is starting to introduce smart LED streetlights.

The Varanasi Municipal Corporation in India has signed a LED streetlight upgrade project with Delhi-based Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) recently, reported The Times of India.

Under the agreement, the streetlight installation is scheduled to be completed within seven-and-a-half months. The agreement includes installing LED streetlights, and upgrading poles and wire mazes. Streetlight installations will follow guidelines outlined by the National Lighting Board.

The sealed agreement will finally push Varansi’s slow streetlight upgrade project forward.

In a separate report, it was noted that streetlight installations were behind schedule in Varansi.

The city so far has only replaced 1,500 streetlights out of a target of 36,000 streetlights, out of these 1,200 streetlights were replaced by EESL. Delayed government streetlight tenders was cited as the main reason.

However, municipal commissioner B K Dwivedi cited in the earlier report that no official agreement was inked between Varansi and EESL for streetlight tenders.

Under the original agreement, EESL was to replace all streetlights in the city at its own cost over a span of five to seven years, while the municipality was to pay back the installation costs with energy savings and maintenance costs.

In March, the city decided to issue its own streetlight tenders, due to EESL’s delay, but it never saw the light of day.

In Ambattur, 10 smart LED streetlights that can be scheduled to automatically switch on and off were introduced, relieving local residents the responsibility of monitoring the lights, reported The Hindu.

The smart LED streetlights is expected to help the community streetlights to save up on energy consumption.