Ludhiana, June 29
Former president of the District Congress Committee, Ludhiana (Urban) and former Chairman of the Punjab Large Industrial Development Board, Pawan Dewan, has strongly condemned the Punjab government over prolonged power cuts on industries, warning that these outages are inflicting heavy economic losses and pushing MSMEs—already under stress—towards collapse.
In a statement issued here today, Dewan said, “Contrary to govt’s tall claims, industries aren’t getting power as required. Even the Agricultural Pumpset (AP) feeders lack supply during the peak paddy season. Result: factories crippled, farmers forced to protest. Punjab’s electricity crisis is hammering both industry and agriculture.”
Pointing out that despite the fact that the key responsibility of PSPCL Director (Generation) is to ensure adequate power procurement, Dewan disclosed that the appointment of the Director (Generation) was made only a few months ago. “This clearly7 shows how serious was the PSPCL towards providing uninterrupted power to various categories of consumers during summers”, he rued.
While stating that the PSPCL’s failure is evident, as power cuts have been imposed on industries during the Thursday and Saturday night, Dewan said, “It is really unfortunate that the Power Corporation’s engineering wing has long emphasized the need for a new thermal power plant, but the government has yet to take any concrete steps to augment the power generation capacity.”
Dewan warned that relentless power cuts hitting MSMEs will further weaken Punjab’s already fragile economy. “Industries are the backbone, electricity their lifeline—if this crisis persists, jobs, growth and production face long-term damage,” he concluded.