PSPCL clears transfer of 165 acres in Bathinda to PUDA for auction

More than 165 acres of prime land in Bathinda owned by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) will soon go under the hammer as the corporation’s board of directors has approved its transfer to the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) under the Optimum Utilisation of Vacant Government Land (OUVGL) Scheme.

The approval came at the board’s 118th meeting on November 21. According to the minutes of the meeting, the board cleared the transfer of 165.67 acres of the Bathinda Thermal Colony of the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant to PUDA. It also decided to demolish existing residential structures on the land, but only after PUDA ensured sewerage and solid-waste management facilities for remaining residents of the colony.

The decision comes amid strong opposition by PSPCL unions that have been protesting against monetisation of the utility’s assets. As per the approved arrangement, the PSPCL will receive 80 per cent of the sale proceeds, while PUDA will retain 20 per cent.

Employees living in the affected portion of the colony will be shifted to other parts of the thermal colony. Officers have been instructed not to allot any houses in the 165-acre section, now earmarked for PUDA.

Jasvir Singh Dhiman, president of the PSEB Engineers Association, said, “We have urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to intervene and ensure that the assets and properties of power sector are utilised only for further expansion of power sector.”

The Bathinda Thermal Colony, spread on nearly 284 acres, was built more than five decades ago. It comprises four blocks, two of which (with 1,340 houses) will be handed over to PUDA. The Bathinda thermal plant was shut in 2018 during the previous Congress regime. Its land was also transferred to PUDA, which had planned a Bulk Drug Park on the site, but the Centre did not approve the proposal.