Thousands of power sector employees, engineers, and pensioners from across Punjab staged a massive protest outside the residence of state Power Minister Sanjeev Arora in Ludhiana on Saturday.
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The protest, under the banner of Power Sector Joint Action Committee (PSJAC), was organised against the sale of Powercom’s land/properties, scrapping of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2025, and the demand to set up two supercritical 800 MW units at thermal plant Ropar under the state sector.
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The Joint Action Committee (JAC) leadership said the Punjab government is planning to sell various lands owned by Powercom in different cities under the garb of monetisation.
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Taking a strict notice, the Punjab and Haryana High Court restrained Powercom from taking any further action in this regard till further orders.
Powercom lands were often acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 and should be used only for the power sector.
In view of the increasing demand for electricity day by day, these lands are now to be used for the construction of new sub-stations and related infrastructure, the establishment of modern offices and stores, etc., so that better services can be provided to the consumers.
It is worth mentioning here that the Rs 159 crore Zero Mission Outage Project in Ludhiana city is facing hurdles from the very beginning, as there is a shortage of space for installing breakers at sub-stations and laying new feeders. It is worth mentioning here that it is because of these valuable lands that banks and other financial institutions give loans to Powercom from time to time to meet its financial needs.
The Joint Action Committee demanded that this sale process be stopped immediately, and instead of giving the lands to real estate agents, they should be used for strengthening the electricity infrastructure and its proper expansion.
Er. Padamjit Singh, Chief Patron, Er. Jasvir Singh Dhiman, President, Engineer Association, Er. Paramjit Singh Khattra, President of JEs Council, while addressing the huge gathering, further said that though the country’s power distribution companies have collectively reported a profit after tax deduction to the tune of Rs 2,700 Crores. Further, line losses have also come down from 22.62% during 2014 to 15.04% during 2024-2025, said the joint action committee members.
Despite the fact that the Central Government is reportedly bent upon to table anti-people Electricity Amendment Bill 2025 in the ongoing Budget Session of the parliament in a very chaotic manner, just to facilitate the corporates to take over the power distribution sector.
This will not only privatise the power distribution sector but also limit the role of state governments. Cross-subsidy will be done away with, and the state government will have to deposit the cost of power subsidy given to the poor, low-income, and farmers on an upfront basis.
Private power companies will use the existing power infrastructure of Powercom without any investment, and the prices of electricity will increase immensely.
The Punjab government should strongly oppose this bill so that the rights of poor consumers, low-income households, farmers, and the spirit of federalism in a federal country can be protected.
Along with this, there is an urgent need to increase the power generation capacity in the state, keeping in mind the increasing demand for electricity consumption