Street light wattage for road: LED street light guide for contractors in Kishanganj, Purnea and Katihar

For most roads, LED street light wattage follows pole height and road width: 20–40 W for village lanes on 4–6 m poles, 40–60 W for colony roads on 6–7 m poles, 70–120 W for town main roads on 8–9 m poles, and 120 W and above for wide roads on 10–12 m poles. Treat these as starting points only. The tender spec or a proper lighting layout decides the final wattage, spacing and lumen output.

This guide is for electrical contractors, panchayat and municipal works contractors, builders and site engineers in Kishanganj, Purnea, Katihar and Araria. The same advice applies across North Bengal, Bihar and Sikkim. Shree Shyam Suppliers supplies street lights, flood lights, cable, switchgear and earthing material together, so a whole road lighting job can be quoted in one list.

Which street light wattage for which road?

People often ask “30 W or 60 W street light?” The honest answer is that wattage alone does not decide brightness. Lumen output (how much light the fitting gives) and the lens (how it spreads light on the road) matter just as much. Still, these ranges are a practical place to start a BOQ:

Where	Typical pole height	Common LED wattage range	Notes
Village lane, gali, small mohalla path	4–6 m (often an existing electric pole)	20–40 W	Low glare matters; houses are close
Colony road, apartment internal road	6–7 m	40–60 W	Even light more important than very bright spots
Town main road, market road	8–9 m	70–120 W	Heavier traffic and wider carriageway
Wide main road, bypass, highway stretch	10–12 m	120 W and above	Usually designed by the department; follow the drawing
Chowk, ghat, ground, parking yard	Varies; often flood lights or high mast	As per layout	Use flood lights, not road fittings

Two common mistakes on site:

• Too much wattage on a short pole. A very bright fitting on a 5 m pole gives a hot spot under the pole and glare into homes, while the road between poles stays dark.
• Too little wattage on a tall pole. A small fitting on a 9 m pole looks dim from the ground, and the contractor gets complaints even though the fitting is fine.

If the tender asks for a lux level or a lighting design, ask the department for the road class and width, and get a layout done before you order.

How high should the street light pole be, and how far apart?

Pole height usually follows the road width and how much area must be lit. One Indian street-light manufacturer’s street lighting FAQ gives common heights of 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15 metres and says spacing should typically be three to four times the pole height. So:

Pole height	Rough spacing at 3–4× height
6 m	about 18–24 m
8 m	about 24–32 m
10 m	about 30–40 m
12 m	about 36–48 m

On panchayat and ward jobs in Bihar, fittings are often mounted on existing distribution poles, so spacing is fixed by where the poles already stand. In that case, pick the wattage for the actual gap. A long gap between two poles needs a wider-spread lens or a slightly bigger fitting, not just more watts.

What should an LED street light spec include in the BOQ?

For trade and tender buyers, a clear spec saves rejections at inspection. These are the points to write in the BOQ or ask the supplier for:

Spec point	What to write or check
Standard	LED luminaire for road and street lighting as per IS 10322 (Part 5/Sec 3)
BIS	Valid BIS registration for the model (ask for the R-number)
Wattage and lumens	Rated wattage and total lumen output of the fitting, not just the LED chip
IP rating	Outdoor-rated ingress protection, as the tender asks (IP65 or IP66 is commonly specified)
Surge protection	Surge protection in the driver or a separate SPD, as the tender asks
Input voltage range	Wide input range helps where rural lines run low or high voltage
Colour temperature	As per tender; ask whether warm or cool white is wanted
Body and mounting	Pressure die-cast aluminium body, side-entry or post-top mounting to suit the pole bracket
Warranty and documents	Brand warranty card, test reports and invoice for the department file

IS 10322 (Part 5/Sec 3): 2012 is the Indian Standard for luminaires for road and street lighting, covering LED and other lamp types for road, street and other public outdoor lighting. LED luminaires for road and street lighting also fall under BIS’s Compulsory Registration Scheme, so check the BIS registration on the model you buy.

Bihar has long rural feeders, heavy monsoon and frequent lightning in many districts. That is why surge protection, a good IP rating and a wide input voltage range are worth asking for in writing rather than assuming.

Street light or flood light for Chhath ghats, chowks and grounds?

Chhath Puja falls on Sunday, 15 November 2026 this year, and ghat and approach-road lighting work in Kishanganj, Purnea, Katihar and across Bihar gets busy in the days before it. A quick rule:

• Approach roads and lanes to the ghat: street light fittings on poles, sized as per the first table.
• The ghat steps, water edge and open ground: LED flood lights aimed from a pole or a temporary structure. A road fitting throws light in a long, narrow pattern along the road; a flood light covers a wider area.
• Big open grounds, melas and large chowks: a high mast or several flood lights from taller poles, as per the layout.

For any temporary festival lighting, keep all joints in proper junction boxes, use outdoor-rated cable, and protect each circuit with an MCB and an RCCB. Near water this is not optional. Get the work done and checked by a licensed electrician.

Which cable, MCB and earthing do street lights need?

The fitting is only one line in the BOQ. The rest of a road lighting job usually needs:

• Cable: armoured cable for underground runs between poles, and unarmoured or flexible cable for the short drop inside the pole to the fitting. See our guide on armoured vs unarmoured cable for when armour is needed.
• Control: a feeder pillar or small panel with MCBs, a contactor and a timer or photo sensor so the lights switch on and off by themselves.
• Protection: an MCB for each circuit and an RCCB where the tender or the site needs it. Our guide to MCB, RCCB, RCBO and MCCB explains which does what.
• Earthing: earth each metal pole and the feeder pillar as per IS 3043. Never leave a metal pole unearthed on a public road.
• Accessories: pole brackets, cable glands, lugs, junction boxes and clamps.

Cable size depends on the total load and the length of the run, especially on long village roads where voltage drop adds up. Send us the number of fittings, wattage and run length, and we will help you check the size.

Street light price: what decides the rate?

Many buyers search “LED street light price” or “street light 50 W price”. We do not publish rates, because they change with the brand and the market. What decides the price of a street light fitting:

• Wattage and actual lumen output
• Brand and warranty period
• Body type (die-cast aluminium, heat sink size) and lens quality
• Driver quality, surge protection and IP rating
• BIS registration and test reports needed for the tender
• Quantity ordered, and whether cable, panel and pole hardware come in the same order

WhatsApp us your list for today’s rate. An itemised quote also makes it easy to compare brands line by line.

Why buy street lights from a local authorised dealer?

For tender and project work, the paperwork matters as much as the light. Buying from Shree Shyam Suppliers means genuine branded stock with invoices and warranty cards for the department file, cable cut to length so you are not left with half drums, and the fitting, cable, switchgear and earthing material on one quote. Browse our lighting and fans range to see the street light, flood light and outdoor fittings we deal in.

Ordering tip

Send us on WhatsApp:

• Number of fittings and wattage (or road width and pole height, if you want us to suggest)
• Brand preference, if any, and tender spec points (IP rating, surge protection, colour temperature)
• Cable run length and type (armoured or unarmoured), plus any MCB, contactor, timer or feeder pillar needed
• Site location in Bihar, North Bengal or Sikkim

We will send an itemised quote with today’s rates.