BBMP to replace all fluorescent street lights with LED bulbs

 The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will tie up with Philips India to replace all fluorescent streetlights with LED bulbs to save power.

On Wednesday, Philips India executives gave a power point presentation to Mayor G Padmavathi, floor leader of the BBMP council Mohammad Rizwan Navab, corporators, Palike’s engineer-in-chief M R Venkatesh and other senior BBMP officials on the benefits of LED bulbs. The Palike is inclined to assign the project to Philips India though modalities are yet to be worked out.

Mayor G Padmavathi told reporters after the meeting that the Palike has decided to replace all conventional street lights with LED bulbs but has not decided on the agency to do the job.

She explained that the Palike had invited some firms to install LED bulbs but most of these firms were using foreign made bulbs which were not of standard quality. “Finally, Philips India gave an impressive presentation that seemed promising,” said the Mayor.

The Palike is contemplating on three options to implement the project — maintenance, consultancy and BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer). “We have asked them to come up with a practical model in two days. We will get to know the cost of the project after the company gives us a detailed proposal.”
The Palike has set a two-month target to start replacing conventional streetlights with LED bulbs. There are 4.75 lakh streetlights in Bengaluru and they have to be replaced in a phased manner.

The Mayor said, “Chennai has 2.7 lakh streetlights whereas Bengaluru has 4.75 lakh. If the outskirts are included, the number may exceed 5.5 lakh.”

The reason behind choosing Philips is that it implemented projects in Chennai, Africa and Malaysia, the Mayor said.