Patna: Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) of the Centre entered into an agreement with National Institute of Technology-Patna on Monday to replace its electrical fittings with power-efficient ones to reduce consumption of the engineering cradle.

The EESL regional head of Bihar, Rakesh Pratap, and the deputy registrar of NIT, Asit Narayan, signed the documents in the presence of institute director Pradip Kumar Jain.

According to the agreement terms, around 13,000 electrical fittings, including 300 air-conditioners, 3,500 fans and more than 9,000 lights, would be replaced at the NIT. Apart from administrative and academic buildings, the hostels of the institution too would be covered under the project.

The NIT would not have to bear any upfront cost and the funds for this would be provided by the Centre.

"The NIT would save around 10 lakh units of electricity by this move which would save around Rs 80 lakh a year. The institution would pay back the government from the savings it would make because of the reduced electricity consumption," Rakesh said after signing the agreement.

He said the work on the NIT campus would begin within a week and it would be completed in three months.

The EESL is set to sign similar agreements with Central Potato Research Institute, Patna, the office of the accountant-general and the Patna centre of Inland Waterways Authority of India in the coming few days. These agreements are set to be executed within a fortnight. "The work to make government premises energy efficient is being done as part of the Centre's move to reduce energy consumption in its offices," said Rakesh, adding that more offices of the Centre would be taken up under the drive in near future.

The EESL had signed a similar agreement with Patna Airport on July 31 for replacing its old electrical fittings with the energy efficient ones. The airport is set to save around Rs 15.5 lakh per annum on its energy bill after completion of the project.