As Punjab grapples with a worsening power crisis, the state government has transferred Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) Administrative Secretary and Chairman-cum-Managing Director Dr Basant Garg. Principal Secretary Gurkirat Kirpal Singh has been appointed his successor.
The leadership change comes amid growing anger over prolonged and unscheduled power cuts affecting industry, agriculture and domestic consumers. Industrial centres including Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Mohali have reported outages of up to 8-10 hours following the shutdown of one generating unit each at Nabha Power’s Rajpura plant and Talwandi Sabo Power Plant in Mansa.
The two units have together reduced available generation by around 1,360 MW, putting additional pressure on PSPCL at a time when electricity demand has surged.
Punjab’s peak power demand touched 16,519 MW on Saturday, sharply higher than the 12,489 MW recorded during the corresponding period last year. Daily demand has remained above 16,000 MW amid unusually high temperatures and deficient monsoon rainfall.
Domestic and agricultural consumers in several areas are also facing three to four hours of unscheduled cuts.
Garg said restrictions had been imposed on consumers not connected to 66-KV lines after the two private thermal plants suffered generation losses. PSPCL had attempted to make up the deficit through power purchases from the open market, but availability was limited amid a wider coal shortage.
With demand estimated to have risen by nearly 3,500 MW over last year, Punjab’s own generation has struggled to keep pace. Erratic coal supplies have further constrained thermal generation, which has fallen to around 6,000 MW.
The crisis has triggered protests by farmers at several places, while industrialists have warned of serious economic losses. In Mohali, industry representatives said factories were receiving barely 12 hours of power against the required 24 hours, putting losses at around Rs. 100 crore. Mohali Industry Association representative Vivek Kapoor said dependence on expensive generator power was economically unviable and was also making it difficult for industries to meet commitments to the Railways and government projects.
Industrialists have threatened to block the Ludhiana-Chandigarh highway over the power situation.
Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa alleged that Punjab had become increasingly dependent on costly power purchases while its own generation capacity remained stagnant despite rising demand. He questioned Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond over how the state could achieve economic growth amid severe power shortages.
Punjab Congress president and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring also attacked the government, alleging that farmers were struggling to save paddy crops, industries were facing restrictions and villages were enduring prolonged outages.
The change at the PSPCL helm therefore comes at a politically sensitive moment, with the government under pressure to restore reliable power supply before the crisis further damages agriculture, industry and its own credibility.
