Bihar is replacing all its streetlights with energy efficient LED lights.

The work has been assigned to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a central agency. The work entails setting up three lakh LED streetlights in the state in areas under urban local bodies.

A senior EESL official said around 1.6 lakh lights had already been installed since July this year, when the work started.

“We have been given a two-year timeframe for completing the work but going by the current pace it is likely to be completed well ahead of the deadline,” the EESL official said.

There are three things that have to be done. The first is replacing old streetlights, which used to consume a lot of energy; the second is installation of LED streetlights on the poles where these had not been fitted in the past; the third work is related to those places where power companies would install new poles for this purpose. Rs 478 crore would be spent in completing 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.

“Going by the kind of savings made on energy front, the urban local bodies would be able to clear the project cost in four years,” said the EESL official.

Around 58,000 streetlights are supposed to be fitted in Patna, of which around 52,000 streetlights have already been fitted. “We are aiming to complete the streetlight implementation work in the capital before Chhath,” said the EESL official.

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.