Chandigarh: Punjab is grappling with an escalating electricity crisis as coal reserves at the state’s private thermal power plants have dropped to critical levels, leaving barely two days of fuel in stock. The severe fuel crunch has sparked serious concerns that power generation at these facilities could halt entirely within days, threatening extended outages for domestic households and industrial operations across the state. Punjab possesses a total thermal generation capacity of 5,680 megawatts, of which three state-run plants account for 2,300 megawatts, while two private facilities provide 3,380 megawatts. If private generation collapses, the state administration will be forced to purchase expensive supplemental electricity from the central pool to avoid widespread blackouts.
Mounting frustration has begun spilling into the commercial sector amid a lack of clear communication from senior power department officials and the state power utility regarding contingency measures. In Ludhiana, an industrial delegation issued an ultimatum to the state government through Chief Engineer Jagdev Singh Hans, warning that enterprise owners will be forced to relocate manufacturing operations to neighbouring states if regular, uninterrupted electricity supply is not restored immediately. Manufacturing bodies emphasized that erratic cuts are already causing severe production losses and disrupting shipment timelines.
The developing shortage has simultaneously triggered a political standoff between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Earlier in the week, Punjab Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond released a video statement blaming a nationwide coal crisis and reduced fuel dispatches from the central government for forcing major private thermal units, such as those in Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo, to run at less than half of their rated capacities. In response, the Union Ministry of Coal dismissed allegations of supply shortages, maintaining that adequate coal allocations have been made and attributing the electricity disruptions to internal mismanagement and operational lapses by the Punjab government.
