3 min readPatialaUpdated: Feb 21, 2026 09:40 AM IST
In a significant development for Punjab’s power sector, Harsharan Kaur Trehan, 61, has become the first woman technocrat to be appointed Director (Commercial) of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited.
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Orders issued on February 20 by Basant Garg, Secretary, Power, Punjab Government, who also holds additional charge as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of PSPCL, appointed Trehan to the post for a tenure of two years from the date of joining. The order specifies that she will not be eligible to continue after attaining the age of 65. She assumed charge on Friday afternoon at the corporation’s headquarters in Patiala.
PSPCL officials said Trehan is the first woman technocrat to rise to the level of director in the utility. Earlier, in May 2021, she had become the first woman Engineer-in-Chief in PSPCL, heading the Material Management wing. She retired in October 2022 from that position.
An alumna of Delhi College of Engineering, Trehan joined the erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board in 1987 as an Assistant Engineer. During a career spanning more than three-and-a-half decades, she handled assignments in transmission design, substation design, hydel design and thermal design. She also served at the Ropar Thermal Plant, in Hydel Design and in the Investment Promotion Cell.
According to officials, she played a key role in the signing of Memorandums of Understanding and Power Purchase Agreements related to new and renewable energy projects. During her nearly five-year tenure as Deputy Chief Engineer (Regulation), she contributed to refining the Supply Code, Commercial Regulations and the electricity supply instructions manual.
As Engineer-in-Chief (Material Management), Trehan oversaw procurement operations involving an annual budget exceeding Rs 1,000 crore, which officials said were managed in a transparent manner. Before her retirement in 2022, she was the senior-most officer in both PSPCL and the Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited.
The post of Director (Commercial) had fallen vacant after the resignation of Hira Lal Goyal in August 2025 on health grounds. The additional charge was subsequently held by Inderpal Singh.
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Senior officers, including S K Beri, Director (Finance), PSPCL, Sanjeev Kumar Sood, Director (Technical), PSTCL, and Vinod Bansal, Director (Finance), PSTCL, were present to greet her.
On assuming office, Trehan said she was grateful to the Punjab Government and would work with full dedication to improve services for consumers and strengthen the corporation’s commercial operations.
