The prime mover of the economy of a state are its resources particularly the minerals and energy. But to be unfortunate enough Punjab is extremely scarce in its minerals and energy resources.
Potential petroleum oil bearing areas of India include Punjab among the others like Assam, Tripura, Manipur, west Bengal, Himachal, Kutch and the Andamans.
Sufficient as well as dependable availability of minerals and energy are essential for sustained growth of the economy. Renewable and non-renewable sources form the two arms of energy.
But in Punjab you will not find any coal mines or oil wells; so the state is dependent mainly on thermal, hydel and solar power.
Due to the deficiency of minerals and energy resources Punjab has been growing principally as an agro-economic sector in India. Energy in the form of electricity is the main input for economic development.
The potentiality of performance of all the prime sectors in the economy starting from agriculture down to the commerce and industry is dependent on power. The urge for electricity is mounting up day by day. To mitigate this, it is absolutely needed that the energy has its optimum utilization as well as diminution of transmission and distribution losses.
The principal source of energy in Punjab are the hydro electric power and the thermal power. There are three perennial rivers flowing through this state which together with the falls on the canals are used to generate electricity.
For the generation of the thermal energy, the state has three power stations at Bathinda, Ropar and Lehra Mohabbat.
