India
Punjab Cuts Power After Coal Shortage Slashes Thermal Output By 1,500 MW
How long can the state keep industry and farms running on emergency power purchases?
How long can the state keep industry and farms running on emergency power purchases?
Punjab’s power crisis is being driven by a that has cut and pushed the state into . As fall and output drops by about 1,500 , the government is forced to buy costly power from the market, risking higher expenses for consumers and added pressure on industry and farming.
The latest position was that plant output would stay constrained until improved and stocks recovered. State officials said they were still dependent on central supply decisions, while power cuts remained the immediate tool to manage demand.
The outage burden spread into the economy, with industry and commercial users facing alongside homes and farms. The crisis highlighted how reduced was becoming a broader production and business problem across the state.
Punjab said power cuts would continue for several hours a day as long as coal shortages persisted. Reports indicated that the state was preparing consumers for continuing while remained understocked.
The state government escalated the dispute with , pressing for immediate action to restore coal flows and stabilize supply. Officials said the problem stemmed from reduced and stressed that the needed to step in quickly.
PSPCL said it had to buy roughly 1,500 MW from the , including to protect supply for the . That showed how the coal squeeze was affecting not just households and factories, but also irrigation demand at a sensitive point in the farming cycle.
said the state’s generation had fallen by around as coal shortages deepened. The statement captured the scale of the collapse, with Punjab forced to lean on expensive market purchases to meet demand.
Punjab moved from a fuel shortage to direct consumer disruption, with reported across domestic, commercial, agricultural and industrial users. The utility also began buying power from the market to cover the shortfall, at very high prices.
The state power utility said depleted coal stock had already forced thermal units to operate far below normal output. It said was being used across categories of consumers to bridge the gap between demand and supply.
As coal supplies worsened, Punjab’s thermal stations were reported to be running at under 50 percent of . Private plants had only about one to two days of coal left, while had only a few days of reserves, making deeper cuts unavoidable.
Punjab’s power crisis began to tighten as at state dropped to critical levels, forcing generators to cut output. Reports said the state had received only 11 to 12 against a daily requirement of about 22, leaving plants short of fuel and operating below capacity.