Punjab to have uninterrupted power supply by year end: Sukhbir

Punjab is set to get "uninterrupted power supply" by the end of this year as Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the state will become "power surplus".
"Punjab will be a power surplus state and by this year end will be in a position to provide uninterrupted electricity supply," Badal said in a statement.
He said that the state government has envisioned strengthening of Transmission and Distribution (T and D) network of all villages and towns at a cost of Rs 2514 crore under Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Program (R-APRDRP), Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).

After successfully launching the R-APRDRP scheme worth Rs 1314 Crore for strengthening the T and D network of 47 towns having population more than 30000, the state government has moved proposal under IPDS to cover 70 more towns having population 5000 or more, he said.
He said the power infrastructure in rural areas would also be improved on the same pattern under DDUGJY scheme.
Giving details of R-APRDR Program, he said the works were in full swing on 24 projects covering Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana East, Ludhiana West, Patti, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Phagwara, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Tarntaran, Batala, Nakodar, Sunam, Sirhind, Nangal, Rajpura, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Samana, Nabha, Barnala, Kharar and Jagraon.

He said that work on remaining 23 projects in various towns would be launched by next month.