Delhi smart street lights will begin replacing nearly one lakh older street lights from October 11 under a Rs 473-crore project aimed at improving road safety, monitoring and maintenance across the capital. The Public Works Department has set a target of replacing 20,000 lights by Diwali and completing the full installation by January 2027.
The project was approved by the Financial Expenditure Committee in June, according to the report. It will replace existing sodium lights with energy-efficient smart LED lights and introduce technology-based monitoring of the city’s street-light network.
Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Verma said the project would create a technology-driven system for monitoring and maintaining street lights. A centralised command and control centre is scheduled to be installed at the PWD headquarters by October 5. The centre will enable real-time monitoring of individual lights and help identify faults quickly.
The system will also allow lights to be controlled remotely where required, according to the report. This is intended to reduce the time taken to detect and repair failures, an issue that currently leaves some roads inadequately lit when existing lights stop working.
The government has linked the project to road safety and women’s safety, as inadequate lighting can affect how residents use roads and public spaces after dark. The report, however, does not provide a road-wise list of locations or identify the first areas where the replacement work will begin.
The project is estimated to cost Rs 473 crore, including five years of operation and maintenance. The use of a five-year maintenance component is significant for the functioning of the network because the project’s stated benefits depend not only on installing new lights but also on keeping them operational after installation.
Under the payment arrangement described in the report, the private company responsible for installing the smart lights will receive monthly payments only when the installed lights are fully functional. This links payment to operational performance rather than installation alone, although the report does not specify the service-level standards, response time for repairs or penalties for prolonged outages.
The government expects the replacement of sodium lights with LED units and the technology-based maintenance system to save approximately Rs 30 crore annually in electricity and maintenance costs. The report does not provide a separate breakdown of the expected savings from energy consumption and those from reduced maintenance expenditure.
The immediate milestones are the installation of the central command and control centre by October 5, the start of field work on October 11 and the replacement of 20,000 lights by Diwali. The full target is one lakh smart street lights by January 2027, after which the five-year operation and maintenance period included in the project cost will apply.
