GURGAON: The power strike that crippled the city and other parts of Haryana for two days was called off late on Friday evening after chief minister Nayab Singh Saini assured electricity department employees that no private parallel power distribution licences would be allowed anywhere in the state.
The shutdown had left many homes facing long outages and disrupted water supply, while bringing industrial production to a halt for more than 24 hours. Govt invoked Section 108(1) of Electricity Act, 2003 - which empowers it to issue policy directions to the state electricity regulator on matters of public interest - and asked it not to create or operationalise such licences.
The order came four days after Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) granted Eleven Power Pvt Ltd a 25-year licence to distribute electricity alongside Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) in Gurgaon and Nuh.
Representatives of Haryana Joint Action Committee said Saini and energy minister Anil Vij heard them out and apprised them of the steps being taken by govt to oppose the granting of parallel licences.
What happens next?
The state said it was not questioning the correctness of HERC's findings in its order, but raised concerns over the private company's financial capacity, technical preparedness and ability to supply all consumers in its licensed area.
It also flagged the risk of a private distributor choosing high-revenue consumers, potentially weakening cross-subsidy arrangements and leaving the state utility with existing power purchase commitments, stranded costs and duplicated infrastructure. These could increase the financial burden on DHBVN and consumers. The govt asked the HERC secretary to place the directive before the commission.
Chief minister Saini also ordered officials to restore electricity immediately in all affected districts. Following his directions, Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Ltd (HVPNL) managing director Aditya Dahiya and DHBVN and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) managing director Vikram Singh met superintending and executive engineers and directed them to ensure uninterrupted supply.
The strike had caused widespread disruption before the settlement. Outages stretched beyond 40 hours in some neighbourhoods, residents blocked Gurgaon-Pataudi Road, Railway Road and Basai Road, bringing traffic to a standstill until cops intervened. Water shortages, exhausted inverters and disrupted work routines added to the distress.
Old Gurgaon bore much of the brunt, particularly colonies along Railway Road and Basai Road. In Ashok Vihar Phase 1, power went off on Thursday morning and remained unavailable in most homes until late Friday. Rajendra Park and Vishnu Garden reported outages from 10am on Thursday, while residents of Surat Nagar faced similar conditions. Hundreds of homes in sectors 4, 7 and 7 Extension, as well as New Palam Vihar, Sai Kunj and Chandan Vihar, reported prolonged cuts.
The disruption also crippled water supply as electric pumps stopped working. In Hari Nagar on Khandsa Road, residents protested outside the Sector 34 power house on Thursday night after supply failed on Wednesday.
DHBVN received around 9,500 complaints through its toll-free number over two days, including about 4,500 on Friday. By Friday evening, 32 feeders were still reported shut. Each feeder serves an average of 1,700 households, highlighting the scale of the problem.
Several societies switched to generator power, which residents said cost around Rs 30 per unit. These included Hero Homes in Sector 104, Godrej Frontier in Sector 80, Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109 and Emerald Hills among others.Prolonged generator use also raised concerns about pollution.
Affordable housing societies without generator backup suffered especially badly. Inverters ran out, water purifiers stopped working and families turned to bottled water. Santosh Singh of Pareena Laxmi Apartments in Sector 99A, home to around 650 families, said power had been unavailable since 6pm on Thursday.
Factories stay shut for days, owners count their losses
The industrial belt took a massive hit from three days of power cuts, with industry leaders estimating production losses of more than Rs 20,000 crore.
Textile, auto components and food units, along with export houses, halted operations as outages disrupted manufacturing schedules, delayed customer orders and put delivery commitments at risk. Businesses also warned of damage to machinery and raw materials, while thousands of daily wagers lost earnings during the festive season.
The strike was called off late on Friday evening after talks between employee representatives and energy minister Anil Vij. The disruption, however, had already hit production schedules, delayed customer orders and put delivery commitments at risk.
Two industry bodies — Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) and Progressive Federation of Trade & Industry (PFTI) — wrote to chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, seeking urgent intervention to restore power and limit further losses.
In its letter on Friday, GCCI said outages that began on the night of Oct 21 had severely affected industrial and commercial activity. Units were unable to maintain scheduled operations or meet customer deadlines, adding to the financial burden of lost production.
The chamber also warned that interruptions could have consequences beyond the immediate loss of output. Sensitive machinery, production processes and raw materials could be damaged by power disruptions, while missed dispatch deadlines could affect contractual commitments.
Some businesses tried using diesel generator (DG) sets, but GCCI said this was neither economical nor technically feasible over an extended period. Higher fuel bills added to operating costs, while generator capacity and technical limitations prevented many units from running their entire electrical load continuously.
GCCI urged the state govt and power authorities to prioritise industrial feeders, manufacturing clusters and critical commercial areas. It also sought emergency contingency arrangements, better coordination among officials and reliable updates on restoration timelines so businesses could plan production and dispatches.
PFTI, in a letter dated Oct 22, said the strike had left industrial operations stalled and workers idle in several areas. The timing had made matters worse. Businesses and workers usually depend on the festive season for higher production, earnings, incentives and bonuses.