Punjab Power Crisis Record Demand Farmer Protests Industrial Power Cuts

Punjab is facing an acute power crisis as electricity demand has touched record levels during the paddy transplantation season, triggering protests by farmers over erratic tubewell power supply, while industries grapple with eight-hour night power cuts. Domestic consumers are facing unscheduled power cuts for two to four hours. Reasons are different every time: local faults, load shedding, or maintenance issues attributed to dusty storms, tripping, etc. The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) protested outside Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) offices at 12 places, including Amritsar, Malerkotla, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, and Ludhiana, on Tuesday. The protesting farmers alleged that the state government has failed to fulfil its promise of providing eight hours of uninterrupted daytime power supply for paddy transplantation. "Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in his speeches, claims that tubewell supply is being provided from 9 am to 5 pm like office hours and not during the night as was the practice under previous SAD-BJP and Congress governments. However, the reality is that day supply is hardly available while night supply continues to be erratic and farmers are not even getting the promised eight hours daily," said Sarwan Singh Pandher, coordinator of the KMM. Peak demand up 11.1% The protests came as Punjab's power demand remained significantly higher than last year. According to PSPCL data, the state's peak demand touched 17,147 MW on June 29, compared with 15,421 MW on the same day last year — an increase of nearly 11.2 per cent. On June 30, demand reached 17,085 MW, against 15,390 MW on the corresponding day last year, marking an 11.1 per cent increase. The rising trend has continued over the past few days. Demand stood at 16,844 MW on June 28 compared with 16,818 MW last year; 16,604 MW on June 27 against 15,736 MW; and 16,464 MW on June 26, substantially higher than 12,961 MW recorded on the same day in 2025. The soaring demand, driven by temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius across large parts of Punjab with the monsoon yet to arrive, has also forced PSPCL to impose severe restrictions on industrial consumers. Unprecedented power cut from 10 pm to 6 am Industrial units in Ludhiana, which account for nearly 60 per cent of Punjab's industrial electricity load, received a communication from PSPCL on Saturday informing them that power supply to category-II and category-III industrial feeders would remain suspended from 10 pm to 6 am daily until further orders. Industry representatives described the move as unprecedented. "It is a rare thing that we are witnessing during the paddy season. Earlier, peak-load restrictions meant industries could continue operations by paying higher tariffs during certain hours. A complete eight-hour blackout during the night is something we have not seen in years," said Bobby Jindal, general secretary of the Punjab Dyers Association. Upkar Singh, president of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU), said, "An eight-hour power cut on industrial feeders is unheard of in my career. Earlier, peak-load restrictions lasted only three to four hours and industries could either pay extra tariffs or temporarily suspend operations. Continuous-process industries simply cannot function with an uninterrupted eight-hour blackout." Inadequate infrastructure Sources attributed the crisis to inadequate transmission infrastructure. "The grids have not been upgraded during the tenure of the present government and can transmit only a limited load. With demand crossing 17,000 MW, several substations are not equipped to handle the load, which appears to be one of the reasons behind shutting industrial feeders during night hours," sources said. Industry associations met PSPCL officials on Tuesday morning and were assured that the situation was likely to improve next week with forecasts of rainfall and lower temperatures. The crisis has been compounded by the shutdown of the 600 MW Ranjit Sagar Dam hydel generation due to a technical snag since Monday. Independent thermal power plants, with a combined installed capacity of 3,380 MW, generated around 3,050 MW on Tuesday afternoon, while state-owned thermal plants, having a capacity of 2,300 MW, produced around 1,580 MW. Overall, PSPCL's thermal, hydel and renewable energy sources together generated around 5,400 MW, while the state drew more than 10,500 MW from the Northern Grid. The remaining shortfall was managed through unscheduled power cuts, sources said. Unscheduled outages too Consumers in both rural and urban areas have been facing unscheduled outages during the day as well as at night. The power issue has also acquired political overtones. Farmers protested outside the PSPCL office in Faridkot on Sunday over erratic agricultural power supply. According to members of the BKU Sidhupur, farmers had sought to submit a memorandum to the chief minister during his Lok Milni programme in Chandbaja village but were not allowed to enter the venue. On Monday, farmers in Muktsar also raised the issue of erratic power supply with SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal during his visit to the district. Villagers manhandle PSPCL staff As power supply is hit across the state, PSPCL employees are at the receiving end. On Sunday evening, staff of the Tibba Thane Wala 66 KV sub-station in Ludhiana had to face the wrath of domestic consumers of Surjit Colony when power supply wasn't resumed till midnight in their area. "On Monday night, over 300 villagers of Boothgarh, Seera broke the door of 66 KV Gaunsgarh sub-station and manhandled the security guard and lineman Hriday Ram when there was a scheduled power cut in that area. These villages come under category-II industrial feeders, which have been facing 10 pm-6 am power cuts since Saturday. So domestic consumers were angry and told us to resume their power supply, warning that otherwise they will stay put at the grid. Now we have filed a police complaint about this incident as government property got damaged," said Gurpreet Singh Mehdodan, a leader of PSEB Employees Federation. Many industrial workers living in category-II and III industrial areas are having a hard time because of night power cuts. A few villages too get power supply from these feeders.