Despite the Bhagwant Mann government providing 600 units of free electricity in Punjab, cases of electricity theft are continuously increasing in the state. The power department is also conducting raids at many places to ensure uninterrupted power supply. Despite this, many people are not deterred from blaming the government. Continuous initiatives are being taken by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to stop electricity theft. The Punjab government has now been costing crores due to the theft of electricity by the people of Punjab. According to the data, from August 2024 to March 2025, electricity worth more than Rs 2,000 crore has been stolen at an average of about Rs 5.5 crore per day.
77 percent of the feeders in the border and western zones of PSPCL are in deficit, where Powercom has suffered a setback of Rs 1,442 crore during the said period. According to the data, the loss due to power theft in the year 2015-16 was Rs 1,200 crore, which touched Rs 2,050 crore in the last financial year and may increase further. Meanwhile, Power Minister Harbhajan Singh said in a statement that their transmission loss has come down and now the focus is on ensuring strict action against power theft. Our enforcement wing teams are capable of stopping such theft.
According to PSPCL data, out of the total 2099 feeders of PSPCL in the border and western zones, 77 percent (1,616) feeders have caused a loss of about Rs 1,442 crore to Powercom in the nine months of the last financial year. Among the feeders in the border zone, there are 19 feeders with losses of 80 to 90 percent, which are in the belt of the Tarn Taran circle and Bhikhiwind division
. While out of 68 feeders with 70 to 80 percent deficit, 44 are in the border zone and 24 are in the western zone. This category includes Ajnala, Paschim in the sub-urban circle, Patti and Bhikhiwind in the Tarn Taran circle, Bhagta in the Bathinda circle and Zira in the Ferozepur circle as critical divisions.