cash-strapped Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is minting money these days by selling surplus electricity to other states with power prices soaring during the peak demand hours.

In the current fiscal so far, PSPCL has already sold ?230 crore power to the grid, against ?70 crore during the same period last fiscal.

With the rainy season having nearly concluded, power generation from hydro units has decreased, and so is the case with solar power, as day length has gone down.

Due to these factors, the demand of power at the grid soars during the evening hours, giving an opportunity to the corporation to sell power from ?7 to ?10 per unit.

Punjab remains power surplus for eight months except during the paddy season when it has to buy electricity to meet the rising power demand.

“Our peak season is over and now our endeavour is to sell maximum power to the grid as the local demand has dipped to nearly 8,000 MW, which will further go down. Some of the southern states are purchasing power. Also poll-bound Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are buying power and it has come as an opportunity for us to sell more power and earn some money. We plan to capitalise on the opportunity,” said a corporation official.

While in the 2016-17 fiscal, PSPCL had sold 361.18 million units (MUs) of electricity for ?107 crore at an average 2.98 paisa per unit, in 2017-18 it sold 1218.68 MU for ?445 crore at average ?3.66 per unit.

“In the current fiscal, we have sold 452 MU power for ?230 crore at an average ?4.63 per unit. We also sell ?7 per unit at times. It is for the first time that the PSPCL sold power during the peak season. We are likely to sell power to tune of ?1,000 crore in the current fiscal, which will be a big booster to the corporation. The money earned through sale of power will benefit the state consumers as it will lower our cost of generation,” said PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) Baldev Singh Sran.

He said chief minister Amarinder Singh and the state power minister has asked the corporation to provide power to local consumers at economical rates, and therefore they are making all-round efforts to sell power to the grid.

“Once the Pachwara coal mine starts operating, our thermal fuel cost will come down further and we will be in a better position,” he said.

Apart from short-term sale of power on day-to-day basis, PSPCL has already floated the tenders of to sell 6,000MW electricity from November 1 to March 31 next year, apart from creating a power bank of nearly 5,000 MW power with other states.

The banked units will be returned to PSPCL from June 15, 2019, to September 30, 2019.