In June 2009, the power crisis in Punjab was so deep that the state electricity board ordered a weekly closure of 72 continuous hours for industries in the state.

In June 2013, a new industrial policy announced by the state government?incidentally the same one as in 2009, the SAD-BJP?talks of uninterrupted power for industry.

What makes the state government so confident of the power situation just four years later is a plan for power generation that seems audacious for a state synonymous with a power crisis. From the present power availability of 7,200 mw, the state is banking on an additional 3,900 mw of electricity by May next year and a whopping over 7,000 mw more in the coming years through new power projects.

State deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal tells FE that this power generation plan is part of a larger roadmap for attracting industry to the state that his government is working systematically to achieve.

?Why do people go to Dubai, the West or Singapore? Because of the infrastructure. Industrialists today choose where they want to invest, rather than being forced to take what is available. When we sat down to analyse what needs to be done to make Punjab an attractive destination for investment, being power surplus was one of the biggest factors,? says Badal.

Opting for the public-private partnership mode as back as 2007, the state invited bids from large companies and managed to garner around R20,000 crore worth of private investment in the power sector.

Asked if the deadlines for these projects would be met, Badal dismisses all concerns, saying that when a project is of the size of 1,500-2,000 mw, two or three months here and there don?t make a difference. ?At least the projects are on the ground,? he says, adding, ?When people don?t have anything, they don?t have any expectations. When things start coming, they want them instantly. Power projects take time to be operational. Most projects would be operational this year; some might spill over to next year as the process is in various stages. Moreover, getting the projects rolling is in the interests of the private parties involved as they would start earning the faster they finish.?

And, while Badal is confident of coal supply to these power projects, despite the Centre offering only 80% of the coal requirements, state power secretary Anirudh Tewari brings in a reality check. The 540-mw Goindwal Sahib thermal project developed by GVK, which was to be commissioned in May this year, is facing coal trouble. Mining at the two coal blocks in Jharkhand allotted to the project has not started because of land acquisition problems being faced by the company. A request to the Centre for temporary coal linkage has also been denied. From May, now the developer has given the state a deadline of

August for the project to be operational.

Fuel supply to projects of around 7,000 mw capacity, for which MoUs have been signed, is not assured and the coal ministry is not likely to consider additional coal linkages till 2015. Moreover, Lanco has decided not to extend its MoU for a 1,320-mw plant in Kot Shamir.

Of the 3,920 mw expected to be generated this fiscal, Tewari places his bets on around 2,000 mw. And of the other projects expected to generate 7,000 mw in the coming years, Tewari says MoUs have been extended for about 3,500 mw. However, he stresses repeatedly that it all depends on the Centre, saying the state government has done whatever it could and is even pushing for coal supply.

Also, the delay in coal linkages does not worry him, as he says the rest is all in place and once the coal supply is in order, eventually the state will become power surplus.