‘117% coal stock & 8-hour outages’: BJP’s Anil Sarin slams Punjab AAP’s power model

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Punjab general secretary Anil Sarin on Monday launched an attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over prolonged power cuts and said the regime’s own figures had demolished its excuse of a coal shortage.

At a press conference, Sarin claimed that according to figures presented by the Power Minister on September 4, 2026, coal stock was around 117 per cent as compared to the state’s normal requirement. However, he alleged that people across the state continued to face six to eight hours of daily power outages.

Sarin said the state was not facing a coal shortage, but was victim to a generation and management failure. “Despite adequate coal availability, five generating units have remained non-operational for around 20 days. Several state power plants are functioning at alarmingly low efficiency,” he claimed.

According to the figures cited by Sarin, the thermal plant in Ropar was operating at just 36.4 per cent of its capacity, Lehra Mohabbat at 28.7 per cent and the Nabha plant had an output efficiency of around 50 per cent. He added that in stark contrast to the government plants’ functioning, Nabha Power’s independent power plant was operating with an efficiency around 93 per cent.

“This is not a coal crisis. It is a crisis of competence, management and governance. If coal stocks are at 117 per cent and people are still sitting without electricity for eight hours, the AAP government owes Punjab an explanation,” Sarin said.

He questioned why five units had remained shut despite adequate coal stocks and demanded that the government immediately release plant-wise figures pertaining to generation, coal availability, operational status and the reasons for the prolonged shutdowns.

Sarin accused the AAP of repeatedly using the Centre as a shield to cover its failures. “The operation, maintenance and efficient utilisation of power-generation infrastructure are the responsibility of the state government. It can’t manufacture excuses every time its own system fails,” he said.