Current Affairs - RISHTA project - Shimla Now

Himachal Pradesh Government on 20 August 2015 launched the Rajiv Gandhi Illuminating Scheme for Hill Town Advancement (RISHTA) project, an efficient smart LED based street lighting project. With this, Himachal Pradesh became the first state in North India to do so.

The scheme is also known as Centralized Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) Smart Street Lighting Scheme for Urban Local bodies which implements LED based street lighting project. This project is being implemented by collaboration of state Urban Development Department and EESL.

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EESL (Energy Efficient Services Limited) is a joint venture company formed by four power sectors i.e. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), Power Finance Corporation Ltd. (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).

For this project, EESL will invest all the capital upfront for implementation of Project. Municipalities will pay back this investment to EESL over a period of 7 years from energy and cost savings that will accrue as a result of installation of energy efficient LED lights.

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In this project, a total of 63484 street lights will be replaced with LEDs in all the Urban Local Bodies to achieve 45 to 55 percent energy savings. The total savings within a year in terms of operation and maintenance will be 6.5 crore rupees.

The scheme will be immediately implemented in Shimla, Dharamsala, Sundernagar, Paonta Sahib, Ghumarwin and Manali. While, the rest of the towns of Himachal Pradesh would be lighted well before 31 March 2016.