Chandigarh, Dec. 15 -- Punjab's power subsidy default has touched a new high, with unpaid bills now crossing the Rs.10,000-crore mark and pushing the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) into a serious financial crunch. For 2025-26, PSPCL has raised a subsidy bill of Rs.14,700 crore and the state government, to date, has released approximately Rs.8,700 crore, leaving Rs.6,000 crore unpaid. In addition to it, there are two legacy instalments that are also yet to be cleared. One being Rs.2,289 crore that was due by March 2025, and another Rs.1,804 crore for the current fiscal, taking the cumulative unpaid subsidy-related burden well past Rs.10,000 crore. The Punjab government is providing free power to the agricultural sector, 300 units of free power to the domestic consumer and subsidised power tariff to the industrial sector. For the current fiscal, it has to provide power subsidy to the tune of Rs.19,657 crore, consisting of Rs.10,413 crore for agriculture, Rs.6,589 crore for free 300-unit power to domestic consumers and Rs.2,384 crore for industrial consumers. There is a legacy of payment of Rs.4,000 crore due towards the government, which it inherited from the previous government. Officials in PSPCL say payments were regular till mid-year, but releases have slowed sharply in recent months, affecting the corporation's ability to plan summer power purchases, manage energy banking and execute routine development works. Engineers have cautioned that prolonged defaults will increase operational stress and may eventually translate into higher power costs for consumers. A senior official of the state finance department, privy to the situation, admitted that fiscal constraints are delaying payments. "For the past two years, we have released full subsidies and even paid legacy dues. However, last year and the current financial situation have made timely releases difficult. We expect some improvement in the coming weeks," the senior official added, pleading anonymity. PSEB engineers' association flagged the concern to the chief minister Bhagwant Mann in a recent letter. "PSPCL has unfortunately become a milch cow in the hands of non-professionals, pushed to the brink of virtual bankruptcy. The government's apathy is evident from the huge amounts of unpaid electricity subsidy of about Rs.10,500 crore and outstanding bills of various government departments amounting to Rs.2,500 crore. Such neglect and misuse have crippled the financial health and eroded public confidence in their governance," reads the letter written by the PSEB engineers' association. Despite several texts and calls, secretary power-cum-CMD PSPCL Basant Garg couldn't be contacted for comments. Power minister Sanjeev Arora said that although he is not aware of the exact figures, the AAP government has been prompt in clearing dues. "I am not aware of the figures, but the AAP government is paying much more to the PSPCL than the previous government. There will be no financial crunch for PSPCL. We have cleared Rs.5,000 crore of legacy payments inherited from the Congress regime. We are committed to providing free power to domestic consumers and farmers, and subsidised rates to industrial consumers," he added. Arora said that in the coming days, the finance department will release more dues to the PSPCL, and by the end of the fiscal all subsidy amounts will be cleared....