Six cities in Indian state Chhattisgarh in central India to replace conventional CFL streetlights and tube lights with LEDs soon, reported the largest English newspaper in the region The Hitadava.

The Urban Administration and Development Department (UADD), Government of Chhattisgarth gave administrative approval to replace conventional streetlights with LED lamps in Raipur, Bhilai, Rajnandgaon, Bilaspur, Korba and Dharmtari.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed between UADD and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), said SK Jain, Chief Engineer of the UADD.

It is estimated a total of 115,412 streetlights will be replaced with LED lights in the six cities under the Street Light National Program (SLNP). Respectively, the six cities such as Raipur will be upgrading 44,899 streetlights, 30,902 lights in Bhilai, 8,828 lights in Rajnandgaon, 16,935 lights in Bilaspur, 9,868 lights in Korba and 3,980 lights in Dhamtar.

The streetlights installation project will be rolled out in September, said SK Jain. The EESL is the implementing agency, and will convert the streetlights to LEDs at its own costs. The agency will be paid under an ESCO model, where savings from energy reduction and maintenance costs will be used to pay it over time.

EESL’s contracts with municipalities will last for 7-year duration, which guarantees a minimum energy saving, but also provides free replacements and maintenance of lights at no additional costs to cities.

Combined the six cities are projected to spend INR 797.6 million (US $11.87 million), while maintenance costs are estimated to amount to INR 31. 9 million annually.