Rolling mills in Mandi Gobindgarh, plywood units near Ludhiana and farmers in Bathinda are facing a common problem: Frequent power cuts that are causing losses and disrupting both industrial operations and domestic life.Power consumers, including farmers, across various categories have raised concerns against the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) over scheduled and unscheduled outages. The disruptions come as electricity demand remains high due to a weak monsoon. A curtailed coal supply and low coal stocks have further deepened the power crisis in the state.Concerned over the situation, representatives of industrial associations met Power Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond on Saturday and raised the issue of power shortages. The minister assured them that the matter would be resolved soon.Rising demand, deepening crisisIndustrial operations have been hit hard due to frequent power cuts owing to high demand and coal shortageDespite PSPCL drawing over 11,500 MW from the Northern Grid, the supply shortage persists across stateTalwandi Sabo and Rajpura thermal plants are currently operating with critically low coal stocks“There are unscheduled cuts ranging from three to four hours every day and there is no information from PSPCL. Our double shifts have already stopped due to power cuts and we are paying our labour without work, adding to the losses,” said Vinod Vashisht, president of the All India Steel Rerollers Association.The power crisis has been compounded by technical faults and tripping of overloaded feeders. Industry representatives believe free power to various categories has increased demand because of the excessive use of cooling appliances. Power availability remains above 16,000 MW amid hot and humid weather, though in-house generation remains low. On September 3, the maximum demand recorded was 16,343 MW, with an official shortage of 31 lakh units (LUs). The shortage stood at 98 LUs on August 27, 53 LUs on August 26 and 33 LUs on August 30.During the day, PSPCL manages peak demand with cheaper solar power available through the power exchange. The utility is drawing more than 11,500 MW from the Northern Grid to meet demand, but the gap between demand and supply continues. The situation worsens after sunset as PSPCL has to purchase costly power and impose five-hour cuts on certain categories of industrial consumers.Farmers in the Malwa belt have also been protesting over inadequate power supply for paddy cultivation. Union members say the supply is often irregular and they are not informed about power schedules. PSPCL CMD Basant Garg was not available for comments.