Patna: The department of urban development on Friday said 6 lakh street lights will be installed on Bihar roads under the Centre's national programme for street lights launched in 2015 to save energy and better illumination.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Energy Efficiency and Services Limited (EESL) and urban local bodies was signed on Friday for the second phase of the project in Bihar, which has a March 2019 completion deadline.

Under the plan, 73,000 LED street lights will be installed in Patna and the remaining in the state. A total of 143 urban local bodies (nagar panchayats and nagar parishads) have signed the MoU with EESL under which the installation of LED bulbs on streets in Patna, Muzaffarpur, Ara, Bhagalpur, Biharsharif and in Hajipur have been started.

Urban development minister Suresh Kumar Sharma said: "The department is working tirelessly to improve urban amenities. The new LED lights will save energy and boost visibility."

Principal secretary Chaitanya Prasad told reporters: "The project will be implemented at three levels. Replacement of existing bulbs on street poles will be done first, then the LED lights will be installed on poles not having any bulb. In the third phase, poles and LED bulbs will be set up in areas where both are lacking."

Emphasising efficacy of the project, Chaitanya said: "Under the agreement, 95 per cent LED lights, whether installed or replaced by EESL, should function always unless the central government's energy saving company has to bear penalties as per the norms."

EESL assistant general manager Prabhat Kumar said the company will bear the cost of the Rs 600-crore project. Urban local bodies will have to pay within seven years. We will maintain the LED bulbs."

"Since December last year, nearly 32,000 street lights have been installed in Bihar, while work is underway on 1,22,000," said a department official.

A command control and monitoring system, computer-based wireless monitoring centre will be set up to provide real-time details about which light is functioning and which is not. "Targeting a March 2019 deadline, the centre will eliminate the need of manual switching on and off the streetlights, helping reduce wastage," said Prabhat.