Delhi Embarks on ₹160 Crore Underground Power Overhaul, Aims to Raise Urban Safety and Heritage Ambience

In a decisive move to modernise one of the capital’s oldest and most congested precincts, the Delhi government has launched a ₹160 crore initiative to relocate over 52 kilometres of overhead power lines beneath the streets of Chandni Chowk and adjoining thoroughfares. Officials say the project will replace tangled, hazardous cables with an underground network spanning 26 arterial roads, significantly reducing risks of fire and electrocution that have long plagued the area’s shopkeepers, residents and heritage structures.

Nearly 500 feeder pillars and bespoke street lighting fixtures will be installed, and for the first time a digital twin system will be deployed to monitor power flows in real time, enabling swift fault detection and reducing outages. Work will be phased with night-time operations to keep disruption to traffic and commerce at a minimum. The intervention directly benefits around 10,000 consumers in the core market area and is expected to improve power reliability for over 150,000 residents in adjacent zones.

Officials place this project within a larger ₹17,000 crore plan to strengthen Delhi’s power infrastructure over the next three years, with several Delhi Transmission Corp (DTL) projects already sanctioned under that umbrella.