PATIALA The poll promise of free and subsidised power is proving dear to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) as the state government continues to default on compensating it fully for the seventh year in a row. The shortfall in payment from the government to the power corporation against the power subsidy bill touched a whopping ₹6,414 crore last fiscal, which is expected to increase further in the election year (2022).
The Punjab government is giving free electricity to agricultural tubewells, 200 units of free power to Scheduled Caste (SC) families and some weaker sections of society, besides giving subsidised electricity at ₹5 per unit to industry.
As per the data compiled by the PSPCL for the 2020-21 fiscal that ended on March 31, Punjab government had paid only ₹9,986 crore against the power subsidy bill of ₹16,400 crore decided by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), leaving a gap of ₹6,414 crore.
