Free Power without cuts: 300 Units Free per month

Updated: Yesterday
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Last Update: 28 September 2026

-- Punjab Govt formed on : 16 March 2022
-- Free Power started on : 1st July 2022 (Within 3 months of coming to power)

Even General Class benefits: First time in India got 300 units per month FREE

“It’s a big relief. Electricity is essential. Under the previous governments, it was a challenge for us to pay the bill as it was almost ₹2,000 a month in summer and ₹1,000 a month in winter. We haven’t paid a single bill since July 2022,” said Kanti (54) from Mandiala, a remote village in Amritsar district[1]

RIGHT To Lifeline POWER[2]

  • 300 Units per month free in Punjab
  • Total 600 Units for 2 month bill cycle Free in Punjab

Automatic Subsidy: No Applications, No calculations

Universal, for All: No Caste certificates, No income certificates

IMPACT

97+% Families in Punjab got ZERO bills in Dec 2023[3]

Month Zero Billed Subsidy Benefited[4]
April 2023 90+% 97.7%
May 2023 86.4% 97.1%
June 2023 78.1% 96.7%
July 2023 68.4% 96%
Aug 2023 61.8% 95.7%
Sept 2023 60.9% 95.6%
Oct 2023 73.7% 96.2%
Nov 2023 87.1% 97.5%
Dec 2023[3:1] 97+% -
Jan 2024[5] 89.6% -
Feb 2024[5:1] 88.16% -
Mar 2024[5:2] 89.76+% -

Still power surplus, No Power cuts

Installed power generation capacity, which was 13892 MW in 2021-22, has expanded to 14840 MW by 2024-25[6]

  • Highest ever 17,423 MW demand met in September 2026, without power cuts, as per Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond[7]
    • Earlier in 2026: record 17,328 MW met on 14 July 2026 during peak paddy season[8]
    • 2025: record 16,192 MW met on 10 June 2025[9]
    • 2024: 16,058 MW met in 2024-25[6:1]
  • ~90% households still getting ZERO bills (September 2026)[7:1]
Year Peak Power
2026-27 17423 MW[7:2]
2025-26 16192 MW[9:1]
2024-25 16058 MW[6:2]
2023-24 15325 MW[10]
2022-23 14311 MW[11]
2021-22 13431 MW[6:3]
  • PSPCL sets new record of 3435 Lakh units power supply in a day on June 24 2023[11:1]
    • This is 91 lakh units more than the previous year's record[11:2]
  • PSPCL sells ‘surplus’ power worth 280 crores even in June, peak month of the year[12]

Electricity for Farmer

Did Punjab Govt make subsidy payments?[13]

  • Yes, All subsidy payments of 20,000 crores made by govt already (2022-23)
  • 2025-26 Budget: Rs 20,500 crore for power subsidy, incl. Rs 7,614 crore for domestic consumers, ~Rs 10,000 crore for farmers and Rs 2,893 crore for industry[14]
  • 2026-27 Budget: Rs 15,550 crore for power subsidy, incl. Rs 5,771 crore for domestic consumers, Rs 7,715 crore for agriculture and Rs 2,064 crore for industry[15]
  • Also paid pending dues of ~9000 crore of previous Congress government to PSPCL in installments of ~₹1,800 crore a year[16]; fully cleared as per Finance Minister (March 2025)[17]
Party in Power[18] Time in Power Unpaid Power Subsidy
AAP 2022-Now Congress-era arrears of Rs 9,020 crores cleared in installments by March 2025[17:1]
Congress 2017-2022 Rs 9020 crores[19]
Akali 2012-2017 Rs 2342 crores

During Congress rule(2021)

  • Industry used to be shut down due to power shortage[20]
  • Govt Offices cut work hours amid power shortage[21]
  • And let's not even mention powercuts for both Urban & Rural areas[22]

[23]


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References:

  1. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/two-years-of-aap-govt-free-power-powers-populism-in-punjab-101710531154808.html ↩︎

  2. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/80-consumers-benefitted-from-aap-s-free-power-scheme-punjab-minister-101659638681835.html ↩︎

  3. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/power-debt-piling-up-in-punjab-97-getting-subsidy-this-winter-579756 ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/105974526.cms ↩︎

  5. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/nearly-90-domestic-power-users-in-punjab-get-zero-bills-101711741289722-amp.html ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. https://yespunjab.com/manpreet-singh-ayali-mispresented-data-on-power-generation-supply-harbhajan-singh-eto/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. https://www.rozanaspokesman.com/news/punjab/150926/punjab-meets-record-17423-mw-power-demand-with-no-shortage-cuts.html ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/pspcl-meets-record-power-demand-of-17328-mw-without-power-cuts-minister/ ↩︎

  9. https://www.punjabnewsline.com/news/punjab-govt-ensuring-peak-power-demand-without-any-cuts-harbhajan-eto ↩︎ ↩︎

  10. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/pspcl-meets-record-demand-without-power-cuts-8681800/ ↩︎

  11. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=167033&headline=PSPCL-sets-new-record-of-3435-LU-power-supply-in-a-day ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  12. https://www.punjabnewsexpress.com/punjab/news/pspcl-sells-‘surplus-power-worth-280-crores-in-june-213293 ↩︎

  13. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/govt-clears-20k-crore-subsidy-bill-of-pspcl-494888 ↩︎

  14. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/punjab-spent-rs-1-34-lakh-crore-on-free-farm-power-since-rollout ↩︎

  15. https://prsindia.org/files/budget/budget_state/punjab/2026/Budget_Analysis_2026-27-PB.pdf (PRS Budget Analysis 2026-27) ↩︎

  16. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/patiala/power-subsidy-burns-hole-in-govts-pocket-owes-rs-29-659-cr-to-pspcl-631156 ↩︎

  17. https://www.babushahi.com/view-news.php?id=201277 (Punjab Govt Press Release, 24 March 2025) ↩︎ ↩︎

  18. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=173664 ↩︎

  19. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/free-power-scheme-bleeds-punjab-corpn-458451 ↩︎

  20. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/punjab-tells-large-industries-to-shut-operations-till-july-10-to-overcome-power-shortage-279036 ↩︎

  21. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/punjab/story/punjab-govt-offices-major-power-crisis-electricity-1822877-2021-07-02 ↩︎

  22. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-power-problem-for-capt-govt-7374814/ ↩︎

  23. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/punjab-power-crisis-2-day-shutdown-for-industry-7385188/ ↩︎

  24. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/punjab-power-crisis-power-cuts-imposed-power-plants-reduce-capacity-due-to-coal-shortage-2569853 ↩︎

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