Telangana revises norms for Rs.1,341 crore streetlight maintenance project
The Telangana government has amended the RFP conditions for a Rs 1,341.60 crore streetlight maintenance project covering GHMC, CMC and MMC limits. The revised norms extend LED replacement timelines, relax bidder eligibility criteria and reduce the solvency certificate requirement
Hyderabad: The State government on Tuesday issued orders amending the regulations for the comprehensive maintenance of streetlights within the GHMC, Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC) and Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) limits. The Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department issued GOMs 196, modifying the Request for Proposal (RFP) conditions for the project, estimated to cost Rs 1,341.60 crore over 10 years. The government said the amendments were made based on representations from stakeholders and the recommendations of a committee. The revised provisions replace those issued in GOMs 91 on March 6.
Under the earlier norms, the concessionaire was required to replace all existing streetlights and Central Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) boxes within six months. The amended orders retain the six-month deadline for replacing CCMS boxes but extend the timeline for replacing LED streetlights to two years, subject to practical implementation feasibility.
The eligibility criteria have also been revised. Earlier, bidders were required to have executed work orders related to the supply of LED streetlights, CCMS or maintenance of streetlighting systems worth Rs 30 crore in any one financial year during the last 10 years.
The revised norms require bidders to have completed either one contract worth Rs 30 crore, two contracts worth Rs 20 crore each, or three contracts worth Rs 15 crore each during the last seven years. They must also have experience in installing 7,000 CCMS boxes under a single contract during the last seven years. The government has also reduced the solvency certificate requirement from Rs 180 crore to 10 per cent of the estimated contract value, that is, Rs 134.16 crore. A few other amendments have also been made to the RFP conditions.
The government said GHMC would act as the nodal agency for implementing the project, which covers nearly 7.60 lakh streetlights across the CURE area.
EESL handled previous project
For the past seven years, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Central government public sector undertaking, maintained nearly 4.5 lakh LED streetlights across the erstwhile GHMC limits. The project marked the first large-scale deployment of LED streetlights in the city. The EESL project resulted in substantial power savings for GHMC. After the contract expired last year, GHMC took over the maintenance of the 4.5 lakh LED streetlights. However, the exercise did not produce the desired results. Accordingly, the State government amended several RFP clauses for the proposed project.