Street lights at what price? | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 12, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2025
Street lights at what price?

Infrastructure

Jahidul Islam
31 January, 2021, 10:30 pm
Last modified: 31 January, 2021, 10:33 pm

Related News

  • Suffering as roads beneath the metro rail still in the dark
  • edotco launches Solar Street Lamp in Cox’s Bazar
  • Eastern Tubes to go into production of LED light soon

Street lights at what price?

Costs of LED street lights quoted in different projects in Dhaka and Chattogram vary widely, with the rate jumping five times since 2013

Jahidul Islam
31 January, 2021, 10:30 pm
Last modified: 31 January, 2021, 10:33 pm

The cost of installing LED streetlights in different city streets has taken a puzzling turn in seven years. The prices of the bulbs being installed by several local government bodies are going up steeply even though LED prices are declining globally.

Each bulb cost Tk64,000 in 2016 when Dhaka South City Corporation started a project that is nearing completion. The cost included the price of bulbs as well as installation cost.

But two years later, Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) quoted Tk1.26 lakh for each bulb, almost double the price DSCC had paid.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The cost then jumped to Tk2.35 lakh in the Chattogram Development Authority's (CDA) proposal early last year. The Planning Commission rejected the proposal as it was not convinced by the justification for the price hike.

But a year later, the CDA set the rate even higher at Tk2.71 lakh per bulb, up from Tk1.26 lakh quoted by CCC in 2018, in a proposal to illuminate other areas of the port city. In the original project back in 2013, the proposed cost was Tk48,000. 

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has already cleared the proposal.

Experts have criticised the cost escalation as they point out that LED prices are on the decline globally.

However, CDA officials have a point.

CDA Chief Engineer Kazi Hasan Bin Shams argued that the roads in the hilly areas are kind of secluded.      

"Considering this, we prefer high-quality German LED bulbs, tha increased the total cost slightly. These lamps are brighter, energy efficient, and also have lower maintenance costs," he told The Business Standard.  

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology's (Buet) civil engineering Professor Shamsul Hoque said while the price of LED lights is declining globally, the opposite is happening in Bangladesh.

"If anyone opts for powerful lamps on the roads to get more light, it should be understood that he is wrong because you have to use moderately-powered lights on the roads. Over-illumination can cause road accidents," the infrastructure development expert added. 

However, there is an exception to the cost escalation story.

Dhaka North City Corporation, which has been installing LED bulbs since 2019, has now proposed installing new bulbs in the ongoing phase that will cost less, down from Tk98,000 to Tk79,500.

These bulbs are also being procured from Europe, but the cost is less than a third of what the CDA will pay.

Dhaka north Mayor Atiqul Islam said, "Bought from Europe, these bulbs come with a 22-year lifespan and the company is also offering a 10-year warranty. They have been tested by Buet as safe for eyes and also environment-friendly."

For a project of the Roads and Highways Department, LED bulbs will cost much higher than the Dhaka north is paying. The department will spend Tk1.33 lakh for each bulb to illuminate Narayanganj six-lane link road from Signboard in Dhaka but those are still less than half the price quoted by CDA. 

Bangladesh / Top News

LED Light / Street Lamp

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Caught between a rock and a hard place. Cartoon: TBS
    Bangladesh's Trump tariff dilemma: Caught between a rock and a hard place?
  • Screengrab blurred
    Mitford killing: Another arrested, case to be transferred to Speedy Trial Tribunal
  • Bangladeshi garment workers make clothing in the sewing section of a factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, April 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo
    Some Walmart garment orders from Bangladesh on hold due to US tariff threat

MOST VIEWED

  • Representational image
    In addition to 35% tariff, US demands 40% local value addition for 'Made in Bangladesh' goods
  • Screengrab blurred
    Killers bash in head of man with rock, stomp body with perverse pleasure
  • How tender rules and a lone bidder stall a $2.5b power plant
    How tender rules and a lone bidder stall a $2.5b power plant
  • Economist Abul Barkat; Photo: Courtesy
    Economist Abul Barkat arrested in graft case
  • Photo: UNB
    WHO's Saima Wazed Putul 'placed on indefinite leave' amid corruption allegations: Health Policy Watch
  • After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients
    After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

Related News

  • Suffering as roads beneath the metro rail still in the dark
  • edotco launches Solar Street Lamp in Cox’s Bazar
  • Eastern Tubes to go into production of LED light soon

Features

After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

17h | Panorama
Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

1d | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

1d | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Putul on indefinite leave after four months in 2 ACC cases

Putul on indefinite leave after four months in 2 ACC cases

30m | TBS Stories
Asian economies devastated by Trump's tariffs

Asian economies devastated by Trump's tariffs

1h | TBS World
Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

Renowned economist Abul Barkat imprisoned

15h | TBS Today
All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

All of Iran's uranium still intact, Israel claims

15h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net