Cost of LED bulbs sold by govt reduced

LED bulbs in Himachal Pradesh will now be available for Rs 85 each instead of Rs 105 under the government's 'Ujala' programme, with PSU Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) obtaining these at a reduced rate.
The EESL achieved procurement price of Rs 54.90 (exclusive of taxes) and the cost of LED bulb was brought down in the range of Rs 75-90 and after adding the taxes, the cost would be Rs 85 in Himachal Pradesh, an official spokesman said.
"The government has ensured transparency and encouraged competition by using e-procurement of goods and services and this has resulted in significant reduction in transaction cost and time and enhanced process efficiency.

"This, in turn, has led to a larger participation of bidders thereby increasing competition and reducing the procurement cost of LED bulbs," he said.
In the first round of procurement held in January 2014, for Puducherry, EESL achieved a cost of Rs 310. The prices for the subsequent procurements for other states, during September 2014 to February 2015, ranged between Rs 204 to Rs 104.
"The EESL, through aggregation and transparent procurement, has achieved a rapid decline in LED prices and in the last procurement held in March 2016 it came down to Rs 54.90," the spokesman said, adding EESL has passed on the benefit to consumers.

The 'Ujala' scheme is being monitored in a transparent manner through a national dashboard and as of now, the EESL has distributed over 56.6 lakh LED bulbs in Himachal Pradesh.