PSPCL in Financial Crunch; SKM Opposes Electricity Amendment Bill

On 18 Nov, Panjab Power minister Sanjeev Arora announced that the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) would now issue electricity connections without requiring a No Objection Certificate if the applicants furnish a mandatory undertaking, proof of identity and residence. However, PSPCL is struggling with a USD 280M financial crunch and has resorted to taking loans to pay salaries, pensions, and meet operational expenses as several government departments continue to default on payment of electricity dues. Four departments—Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Local Government, Rural Development and Panchayat, and Health and Family Welfare Department—account for over 90% of the total pending amount. That is why, on 21 Nov, the PSPCL Board of Directors deferred Power Purchase and Power Sale Agreements with two private players. Also, the Panjab government's recent decision to sell land parcels owned by PSPCL has pushed the Punjab State Electricity Board Engineers' Association to go on a strike from 26 Nov, India’s Constitution Day. Meanwhile, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)—an umbrella body of various farmer unions—says that the draft Electricity Amendment Bill has been framed for large-scale privatization, commercialization, and centralization of the Indian power system. ‘The removal of cross-subsidies will increase power tariffs for poor and rural households, deepen inequality, and push farmers further into distress. This move, driven by corporate interests, is anti-people, anti-farmer, and anti-worker,’ said SKM in a statement. The draft Bill constitutes a direct assault on the federal character of India's Constitution, turning electricity governance into a tool for centralized, corporate-driven policy imposition. SKM and Central (Indian) Trade Unions (CTUs) have asked farmers and workers from every district of the country to submit memorandums to Indian President Droupadi Murmu against the draft Electricity Amendment Bill on 26 Nov. The day marks 5 years of the beginning of the Farmers Protest 1.0 (2020–21). SKM will mark the day through countrywide protests to highlight the Indian union government’s breach of promise it made to farmers for consultations on Minimum Support Price, the Electricity Amendment Bill and other demands on 9 Dec 2021 after which the farmers withdrew their protest (earlier coverage).