Going forward with the implementation of Street Lighting National Programme, Bihar is replacing all its streetlights with energy efficient LED lights. The task is being undertaken by Energy Efficiency Services Limited, which will be setting up three lakh LED streetlights in the state in areas under urban local bodies. According to EESL, around 1.6 lakh lights have already been installed since July this year.
The agency is going to work in three different ways. It will first replace old streetlights, then install LED streetlights on the poles where these were not been fitted in the past, and later would work in those places where power companies would install new poles for this purpose. It will spend Rs 478 crore to complete the work, and urban local bodies would not have to bear any upfront cost.
Once the work is completed, officials estimate saving of electricity worth Rs 117 crore every year. The local bodies are supposed to pay back the cost from these savings. Around 58,000 streetlights are supposed to be fitted in Patna, of which around 52,000 streetlights have already been fitted. The agency has also been tasked with fitting LED mast lights at Chhath Ghats in Patna as part of the preparations for the main festival of the state.
