No scheduled power cuts in Punjab: Minister

Surinder Bhardwaj

Fatehgarh Sahib, June 27

There are no scheduled power cuts in Punjab and occasional outages were due to maintenance work or setting up of new transformers.

This was stated by Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO while addressing mediapersons at Jalkheri village in the district today The minister was in the village to inaugurate a 10 MW biomass power project.

He said there was no power shortage and all domestic, agricultural or industrial sectors were getting uninterrupted supply. “We have enough stock of coal for state thermal plants,” he added.

The minister was accompanied by PSPCL Chairman Baldev Singh Saran, Director (Distribution) DPS Grewal, Director (Generation) Paramjit Singh, Director (Administration) Jasbir Singh and Chief Engineer Gurpal Singh.

On the biomass power plant, he said the project built in an ultra-modern manner was restarted after 17 years and would solve the problem of stubble burning in an area of 50,000 acres. He said the plant was commissioned by the Punjab State Electricity Board (now PSPCL) in June 1992 and was operational till July 1995. In July 2001, the plant was leased to Jalkheri Power Plant Ltd, which started operations in July 2002 and continued it till September 2017.

The plant would produce nearly 25,000 units of electricity with 2.5 lakh quintals of straw, he said. He said the plant was given to a private company on lease for 20 years.

The minister said the PSPCL had also drawn up a project for planting solar trees to promote solar energy. The project began in Patiala today. He said soon, more such solar trees would be planted.

To a query regarding the death of an electricity board employee, he said the government was working with all seriousness for the safety of employees and safety kits were being provided to them.