The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) announced a proposal of replacing 96,000 sodium vapor streetlights with LED lights. The Union ministry of urban developing will be financially supporting GVMC tby adopting a public private partnership (PPP) model. However, this proposal is still in the discussion stage, and GVMC only plans to cover existing 72 wards under six zones, and exludes the newly-merged Bheemili and Anakapalle.

 

“"If we replace all the sodium vapour streetlights with LEDs, we require nearly INR 70 to 80 crore (US $11.52 million to US $13.16 million),” said GVMC Commissioner MV Satyanarayana. He further explained the corporation will need financial assistance from the central government.

 

The new installations in the region, which currently only has 180 LED streetlights is expected to halve GVMC’s electrical costs.