Rs 5,000-cr ‘Roshan Punjab’ project launched

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched the “Roshan Punjab” campaign worth more than Rs 5,000 crore, claiming to make Punjab the first power cuts-free state of the country.

Addressing the gathering after launching the campaign, Kejriwal said no government at the Centre or state had ever dreamt of such a project.

"The industry sector is getting fourth lowest tariff in the country, agriculture sector is getting uninterrupted power and now this path-breaking initiative is being taken," he said.

For the first time, an investment of Rs 5,000 crore was being made to bring reforms in the power sector. Kejriwal said through this project, Punjab would receive uninterrupted 24-hour power supply by next year, which was why the project had been named “Roshan Punjab”.

Under the project, new substations and power lines would be set up and load on feeders would be reduced.

Kejriwal said the focus would be on building new infrastructure, upgrading existing systems and enhancing maintenance in the power sector. He said special projects had also been implemented to improve power systems in large cities.

In the 13 municipal corporations, a project had been launched to improve the low tension (LT) network. He said unnecessary wires were being removed from electric poles, low-hanging wires were being raised, old wires were being replaced and open meter boxes were being sealed to ensure public safety.

He said this was first introduced as a pilot project in Ludhiana (West) and was now being implemented in other cities. He said the initiative had now been started across all 87 subdivisions under these municipal corporations and was expected to be completed by June 2026.

For the convenience of consumers, a call centre had been set up in Mohali, and its helpline number – 1912 – had been launched. He said the call centre had a staff of 180 members who assisted people round the clock.

CM Mann said 90 per cent of the households in Punjab were receiving zero electricity bills, which had provided huge economic relief to the public.

On the occasion, Cabinet Minister Sanjeev Arora, Lok Sabha MP Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal and Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal were also present.