PSEB in a limbo, govt works overtime to resolve issue
Sanjeev Chopra
Patiala: The recent letter of the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), the all-powerful power regulatory body for Punjab, questioning the legal status of the Punjab State Electricity Board, has put the Punjab Government in a tizzy. Its top officials are now busy finding a solution to the vexed problem.

Sources say Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has again written to the Centre for extending the extension granted to the state for unbundling of the PSEB and is waiting for the final decision of the Centre. The CM had also personally called up the Prime Minister on the issue before his surgery, it is learnt.

Though the present SAD-BJP regime is not averse to unbundling, it is waiting for an opportune time for unbundling the PSEB. With elections round the corner and Punjab government in no mood for unbundling its SEB now, it is hoping for another extension from the Centre.

Sources add that top officials of the Punjab government are working overtime to find a solution to the issue of legal status of the PSEB, as the Centre has not yet accorded any extension to the state government for unbundling. In this regard, the government has also appointed top consultants and is seeking legal opinion over the issue too. The last extension granted to it by the Centre expired on November 30.

With no legal sanctity for PSEB, it continues to be in a state of limbo. The government is now considering various options, including unbundling the SEB or follow in the footsteps of Kerala, which has formed one corporate body for its State Electricity Board, in the event of it being denied any further extension for unbundling under the Central Electricity Act, 2003.

Interestingly, the Punjab government’s recent action of appointing H.S. Brar as the new chairman of the PSEB is also being viewed sceptically, as the government does not have legal sanctity for appointing the new chairman.

While top officials refused to comment over the contentious issue, a senior official told The Indian Express that the government is waiting for a “politically correct time” for unbundling the SEB. PSEB chairman H.S. Brar only said that the government was working on finding an early solution to the problem.