From four hours to 14: Punjab industry bears brunt as power crisis deepens

The power crisis across Punjab turned more serious on Saturday as designated industrial consumers in Category 2 and 3 faced scheduled power cuts of up to 14 hours in several parts of the state, while domestic consumers too reported unscheduled outages lasting four to five hours a day.

The latest restrictions mark a sharp escalation from last week, when industrial units were subjected to a scheduled five-hour power cut, generally from 7 pm to midnight. Industry received relief for two days on September 8 and 9, but on September 10 the scheduled shutdown was extended from 8 pm to 6 am — effectively forcing several units to give up their night shifts.

In Ludhiana, industrialists said the shutdown from 4.30 pm on Saturday had been imposed without prior notice. “How are we going to survive like this? We have not seen such a crisis ever in our lives. We had suggested to PSPCL that instead of disrupting industrial operations every day, compulsory weekly offs of 24 hours could be imposed on industries on a rotational basis,” Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO), said.

While several industrialists said their supply had been disconnected around 3 pm, PSPCL officials maintained that the shutdown for the affected industrial category began at 4.30 pm in Ludhiana, which contributes to over 60 per cent of Punjab industry.

In Jalandhar, Amritsar, Mohali, Rajpura, etc., as well as category 2 and 3 industries faced power cuts from Saturday late evening itself. The prolonged cuts are also affecting residents of villages and workers living in industrial areas because several villages receive electricity through feeders that predominantly serve industrial consumers.

Villages such as Seera, Gaunsgarh and Boothgarh in Ludhiana are among those affected by the shutdowns, according to industry representatives. “In areas such as Dhandari Kalan, Dhandari Khurd, Giaspura and Kanganwal in Ludhiana, a large number of industrial workers live close to their workplaces.

They too are now facing nights without electricity after working hard throughout the day,” Pankaj Sharma, president of the Association of Trade and Industries Undertakings (ATIU), said. “This is not how the system should function.

We are not told how many hours the power will remain off on a particular day. Industry has several expenses — labour, raw material and fixed commitments — besides deadlines for completing orders,” Sharma said. Meanwhile in category 2 and 3 one can't use load more than 10% and 2% of their total declared load, revealed information.

However sources revealed that most areas are facing complete shutdown. The crisis comes at a time when Punjab’s peak power demand has risen sharply. The state recorded a peak load of 16,519 MW on Saturday, compared with 12,489 MW during the corresponding period last year, when several districts were battling floods.

At the same time, one unit each of the private thermal power plants at Nabha Power and Talwandi Sabo, with generation capacities of 700 MW and 660 MW respectively, is currently non-operational, according to industry representatives.

The total inhouse generation of PSPCL from all sources is around 4300 MW and power purchase is of over 11000 MW, sources added. Industrialists have also raised questions over coal availability and power-sector planning. “We have been told that there is a scarcity of coal supply, due to which generation has fallen.

But who is responsible for planning coal purchases? The state government has to ensure this rather than blaming the Centre. If a government is running the state, it has to manage basic affairs such as power, water and sewerage.

This is a failure of planning and a diktat of PSPCL,” FICO’s Kular said. Bobby Jindal, from Punjab Dyers Association said," Hundreds of dyeing units on Tajpur Road, Bahadurke road in Ludhiana are facing power cut and labour is sitting idle.

This is the time for us to make the stock of next season ready."