New Delhi: More than 1.4 lakh Chinese-origin CCTV surveillance cameras in Delhi, which make up half of the city's network, are now under review as the government has decided to replace them over security and data concerns, reported NDTV.
Public Works Department (PWD) Minister and Deputy CM Parvesh Verma on Wednesday announced that cameras sourced from Chinese firm Hikvision will be systematically replaced across the capital in a phased manner.
The city currently has 2,74,389 CCTV cameras installed by the PWD. Of these, nearly 1,40,000 cameras, which account for 51% of the total, are Chinese-made and were installed during Phase 1 between September 2020 and November 2022, according to official data.
The remaining 1,34,389 cameras, installed between June 2025 and March 2026 under Phase 2, are not of Chinese origin.
Citing concerns over surveillance and data control, the minister questioned the earlier decision to install Chinese CCTV cameras across the city.
"The Aam Aadmi Party installed Chinese Hikvision cameras across Delhi without thinking about the long-term security implications. Surveillance infrastructure is not just about visibility, it is about control over sensitive data," the Minister said.
"This was not a routine procurement decision. When you deploy such systems across an entire city, you are making a national security choice. Unfortunately, the Aam Aadmi Party failed to recognise that," he added.
Responding to the criticism, AAP party's Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said the cameras are deployed across multiple central government projects, including metro systems. He also questioned why a nationwide ban is not imposed if the cameras pose genuine national security risks.
"Hikvision cameras are already deployed across multiple Central Government projects, including metro systems that are critical to public safety. If there are genuine national security concerns associated with these cameras, why has the BJP Government not imposed a comprehensive ban on their use across India," Bharadwaj said.
"This selective alarm raises serious questions. It appears less about security and more about creating a convenient pretext to phase out existing systems and award fresh contracts to a favoured company," he added.
