New Delhi, Apr 1 (PTI) As part of the security overhaul, the Delhi government will replace 1.4 lakh Chinese-made CCTV cameras installed across Delhi, PWD minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said on Wednesday.

Currently, the Public Works Department (PWD) has approximately 2.8 lakh cameras installed, out of which 1,40,000 CCTV cameras installed in phase 1 were from a Chinese firm.

“We have taken a decision to phase out a significant portion of the CCTV cameras installed across the city, particularly those sourced from Chinese firm Hikvision, in line with recent government directives and broader security considerations,” the minister said.

PWD will be gradually replacing cameras with updated systems that meet current technical standards, offer better data security and are supported by a robust supply and service ecosystem, Singh added.

Delhi currently has 2,74,389 CCTV cameras installed by PWD in two phases, with 1,40,000 cameras installed between September 2020 and November 2022 and the remaining 1,34,389 cameras between June 2025 and March 2026.

The PWD minister also accused the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of failing to think about the security implications of installing Chinese-made cameras.

“The AAP installed Chinese Hikvision cameras across Delhi without thinking about the long-term security implications. When you deploy such systems across an entire city, you are making a national security choice. Unfortunately, the AAP failed to recognise that,” Singh said.

There was no immediate response from AAP on the matter.

“The government has already approved the replacement of 50,000 Chinese cameras in the first phase. This is a clear course correction. Every Chinese camera installed earlier will be systematically replaced with secure and trusted systems,” he added. PTI SSM RT