The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab has reshuffled the state’s power administration as prolonged outages, rising electricity demand and generation constraints put increasing pressure on the government ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
Senior IAS officer Gurkirat Kirpal Singh has replaced Basant Garg as principal secretary for Power and Renewable Energy Sources. Singh, a 2001-batch IAS officer, has also been appointed chairman-cum-managing director of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited and Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited.
Singh had been serving as principal secretary for Social Security, Women and Child Development, Industries and Commerce, Investment Promotion and Information Technology. Garg, a 2005-batch IAS officer, has now been moved to Industries and Commerce, Investment Promotion and Information Technology, effectively resulting in an exchange of key responsibilities between the two bureaucrats.
The reshuffle marks the second major leadership change in Punjab’s power administration in less than a year. Garg was appointed power secretary and CMD of the two state power corporations in October 2025, replacing senior IAS officer A.K. Sinha. Garg had been selected for the position by then-power minister Sanjeev Arora, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case in May and remains in judicial custody.
The administrative change comes as Punjab grapples with one of its most challenging electricity situations in recent years. Peak demand crossed 16,500 megawatts in September and has reached 16,619 MW. Industrial consumers in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Mohali have faced power cuts lasting as long as 14 hours, while residential and rural consumers have also reported extended unscheduled outages.
Punjab Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond has blamed the Centre for the coal crisis and attributed the broader electricity shortage to a combination of rising demand, inadequate generation, coal shortages and technical problems at thermal power stations. Punjab’s available generation capacity has declined from approximately 6,580 MW to 5,680 MW, while electricity demand has increased by more than 6,000 MW over the years.
The state has consequently become increasingly dependent on electricity purchased from outside Punjab and power generated by private plants to meet demand. The situation has been further aggravated by the shutdown of units at two private thermal power plants, resulting in an estimated generation shortfall of about 1,360 MW.
Critically low coal inventories at some power plants have placed additional pressure on electricity generation. With demand remaining elevated and industries facing lengthy outages, the appointment of new leadership at the power department and state electricity corporations comes as the government seeks to manage the immediate crisis and address Punjab’s widening gap between power demand and available generation.
