LED bulbs given to Maharashtra meet quality standards: Centre

The statement comes in the wake of Shiv Sena opposing the move of installing LED bulbs for streetlights in 100 cities including Mumbai

Amid war of words between the BJP and Shiv Sena over the installation of LED lights in the city, the Centre has now contended that the bulbs distributed by it to Maharashtra meet all quality standards.

In a statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Mumbai, the agency, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), engaged in distribution of LED bulbs as part of energy conservation drive of the government says that the LED bulbs distributed by it meet the luminance standards prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

The contention of EESL comes in the wake of Sena opposing the move of installing LED bulbs for streetlights in 100 cities including Mumbai after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scheme in this regard in a energy conservation drive.

Although the EESL clarification is related to LED light bulbs being installed in Jalgaon, which were said to be less bright and hence inefficient, the bulbs installed in Mumbai too invited had Sena's ire.

The Sena in an edit in party mouthpiece Saamana had said that EESL had no production capacity of its own and was awarding sub-contracts to private companies and asking the Municipal Corporations to pay off the money after seven years at a interest rate of 12% to 14%.

Earlier, Yuva Sena President Aaditya Thackeray and Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar were locked in a verbal duel over the issue with the latter saying that "the colour of development is white."

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal had termed Sena's allegations of misappropriation in LED streetlights installed at Marine Drive here as "malicious and false."

The EESL clarified that the LED bulbs in Jalgaon were examined at National Accreditation Board for Testing (NABL), a recognized laboratory and was found that the bulbs met the required luminous flux.

It further claimed that the testing methodology adopted by it for measuring performance parameters of the bulbs was being constantly being monitored by NABL.

The EESL also claimed that its move has brought down the cost of LED bulbs from over Rs 300 to Rs 70. So far it has distributed more than five crore LED bulbs under the Centre's Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme.