PATIALA – Notwithstanding the repeated claims of the SAD-BJP government of making Punjab a power-surplus state, the agrarian state continues to reel under power deficit. According to the latest “Load Generation Balance Report 2012-13”, released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a copy of which is with TNS, Punjab is power deficit by a whopping 8963 Million Units (MU) for the year 2012-13.
According to the report, the power demand of Punjab has been estimated to be 48,881 MU, whereas the estimated supply would be 39,918 MU – a shortfall of about 18.3 per cent. Notably, the Load Generation Balance Report (LGBR) of CEA covers the month-wise anticipated power requirement and availability, as well as the peak demand and availability of power for the year 2012-13.
During the current fiscal year, Punjab would not be adding any power generation capacity. The first unit of 270-MW capacity of the 540-MW under-construction Goindwal Sahib power project in Tarn Taran is unlikely to operational by April next year.
Furthermore, in the wake of the fact that the work of the first unit (660-MW) of the 1980-MW Talwandi Sabo thermal plant was behind schedule, the deadline for the commissioning of the first unit (660-MW) of this upcoming thermal plant has been extended from November 30 this year to April 13, 201
