At the heart of the debate on saving the planet is the question of energy efficiency in all long term and future projects. ICICI Bank and the World Bank promoted India's first municipal project on the shared savings concept at the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC).

Like other parts of India, Nashik city also faces an acute shortage of power supply-in addition the cost of power has been going up in recent years. This has created an additional burden on the municipality. One of the major civic responsibilities of NMC is to provide street lighting within city limits for vigilance and surveillance.

The solution from the Energy Services company (ESCO), Sahastratronic Controls Private Limited (SCPL) consisted primarily of the premise that the actual level of illumination required differs substantially over the span of a day. The Street Light Controller was proposed by SCPL as a device that could be used to monitor the actual usage of light and control its supply in accordance. A large savings potential existed specifically between midnight and early morning and could be tapped by this device.

The project is the first of its kind in India and has served as a model for other utilities and local urban bodies. The average savings have so far worked out to 34 per cent of the original bill and in some cases even as high as 44 per cent. The additional cash flows are now being utilised by NMC to fund other priority schemes such as health and primary education.