Despite contributing to more than half of PSPCL’s total industrial revenue in the state and repeated assurances of uninterrupted power supply from the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), several industrial pockets in Ludhiana, particularly focal point division continue to reel under frequent power outages and voltage fluctuations, crippling operations and causing mounting losses.
Industrialists say they are plagued by relentless feeder tripping, abrupt shutdowns, and back-to-back maintenance works that disrupt production schedules and damage expensive machinery.
Notably, on Thursday alone, during the span of four hours from 6.06 am to 10.43 am, around four 11 KV feeders catering to these industrial localities under the focal point division remained non-functional with no power backup, painting a grim picture of poor electricity supply.
Tejveer Grewal, a local businessman in focal point asserted, “Industries are already reeling under losses, but despite this, the corporation is charging us a whopping ₹110 to ₹350 per KVA as fixed charges in addition to tariffs, regardless of actual electricity usage.
These charges are meant to cover PSPCL’s costs for maintaining the infrastructure and ensuring the availability of power supply at all times. Yet, we are still struggling to maintain a steady flow of operations due to such outages.
Adding to the concerns are voltage fluctuations, which hurdles our equipment functioning and hampering their efficiency. He further added that PSPCL boosts its revenue surplus but still has surged power tariff for industries operating during night hours from ₹5.31 per kVAh to ₹5.50 per kVAh, while keeping all the others domestic and commercial charges unchanged. Even after charging us extensively, the power utility has failed to ensure something as basic as uninterrupted power supply,” Grewal noted.
{{/usCountry}}Adding to the concerns are voltage fluctuations, which hurdles our equipment functioning and hampering their efficiency. He further added that PSPCL boosts its revenue surplus but still has surged power tariff for industries operating during night hours from ₹5.31 per kVAh to ₹5.50 per kVAh, while keeping all the others domestic and commercial charges unchanged. Even after charging us extensively, the power utility has failed to ensure something as basic as uninterrupted power supply,” Grewal noted.
{{/usCountry}}Echoing a similar plight, Rahul Verma, an industrialist based in Focal Point Phase 5, noted that despite installing a dedicated hotline feeder that supplies power directly from the grid substation, his units experienced over 55 outages in just six months, some lasting as long as nine and half hours. “This clearly exposes the poor infrastructure and substandard services of the power corporation,” he said.
Verma further pointed out, “ Along with these outages, we are troubled with the slow response from officials, who often take hours to resolve even minor faults. Also, despite paying hefty charges, we are forced to rely on backup diesel generators, which add significantly to our costs. Who will compensate for these extra expenses and operational losses?” he questioned.
Upkar Singh Ahuja, president of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU), attributed the ongoing power issues to a lack of long-term planning by PSPCL, by stating, “The root cause of frequent outages is outdated infrastructure including loose wires, feeder trippings, and voltage fluctuations. The corporation must undertake advanced and comprehensive upgrades to create a sustainable environment for industrial operations.”
When contacted, Amrinder Singh, XEN focal point asserted,” the power outages are particularly prompted from ongoing maintenance works ahead of monsoon. After receiving any complaints we quickly respond to fix it.”