Pune Initiates Electricity Saving Project, Starting with Sinhagad Road Replacing Over 3000 Street Lights

Pune: In a bid to curtail electricity expenses, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has entered into an agreement with the State Government’s ‘Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Technology Limited (Mahaprit).’ The agreement aims to manage electricity billing for the PMC, with a focus on energy conservation within the Sinhagad road zonal office’s jurisdiction.

As part of the initiative, the project includes the replacement of 20 large pumps at the water treatment plant with more energy-efficient models, thereby reducing electricity costs. This information was disclosed by Municipal Commissioner and Administrator, Vikram Kumar.

Annually, the Pune Municipal Corporation incurs an electricity bill of 153 crores for a consumption of 29.10 crore units of electricity in various buildings, sewage projects, water purification facilities, street lights, and other locations.

With the recurring increase in electricity expenses, the authorities have now taken steps to conserve electricity. In collaboration with Mahaprit, the PMC plans to replace energy-consuming equipment with new, efficient alternatives. The resultant savings in electricity bills will be shared, with 80 percent going to Mahaprit and the remaining 20 percent allocated to the Municipal Corporation.

Notably, the city comprises a total of 1 lakh 80 thousand street lights, out of which 90,000 are equipped with fittings from Tata company. These fittings have a lifespan of five years. The remaining 90,000 street lights are currently maintained by the municipality.

As part of the electricity-saving project, the maintenance of these 90,000 street lights will be handed over to Mahaprit, commencing from the Sinhagad Road Regional Office. Initially, 10,000 street lights in this region have been entrusted to Mahaprit, and the replacement process has already begun.

The first phase of the initiative involves the replacement of 3000 lamps at the Sinhagad Road Regional Office, with 400 lamps having already been replaced. The remaining work is set to be completed within the next 10 days. While focusing on energy-saving, the Municipal Corporation will take into account the location and costs of newly installed pumps, ensuring that only pumps with higher energy costs will be replaced.

Mahaprit’s Role in the Project:

• Replacing municipal power equipment with energy-efficient alternatives, including ACs, fans, tube lights, pumps, and streetlights.
• Installing new equipment to reduce electricity costs.
• Compiling information from all departments and preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the initiative.
• Mahaprit will receive 80 percent of the benefits derived from the resulting electricity bill savings.