Chandigarh, Jun 6: Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Punjab Engineering College (PEC), a deemed university in Chandigarh, to set up the “POWERGRID Centre of Excellence” at the institute under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
The MoU was signed by Tarun Bajaj, Executive Director (Northern Region-II) on behalf of POWERGRID, and Prof. Rajesh K Bhatia, Director (ad-interim) of PEC, at a formal ceremony held on the PEC campus. The event was attended by Rajeev Verma, Chief Secretary, Chandigarh UT; R.K. Tyagi, Chairman & Managing Director, POWERGRID; and Prerna Puri, Secretary Education, Chandigarh Administration.
Senior officers from POWERGRID, including Vikram Singh Bhal, Executive Director CMG-Coordination; Jasbir Singh, Executive Director (CSR); as well as HODs, faculty members of PEC, and officials from the technical education department of Chandigarh, were also present.
Punjab Engineering College sought POWERGRID’s support to create a cutting-edge infrastructure aimed at providing advanced training and hands-on experience to students in the evolving domain of Power and Energy Engineering. Responding to the request, POWERGRID committed to establishing the Centre of Excellence (CoE) at an estimated investment of ₹17.19 crore.
The proposed facility will significantly bolster the Electrical Engineering curriculum at PEC by enhancing laboratories in key thrust areas such as numerical relays, phasor measurement units (PMUs), inverters, cybersecurity, e-mobility, and controllers, along with real-time simulation systems for training and demonstration purposes. The centre is also expected to boost research opportunities for faculty and scholars in the power sector.
On the occasion, the Director of PEC expressed gratitude to POWERGRID for its support and commitment to academic excellence, noting that the infrastructure will benefit both students and researchers in the electrical engineering field.
POWERGRID, a Maharatna enterprise under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, has its Northern Region-II headquarters in Jammu. The company operates an extensive inter-state transmission network with 180,239 circuit kilometers of transmission lines, 283 substations, and a transformation capacity exceeding 564,961 MVA. With over 99% transmission system availability, POWERGRID continues to lead through cutting-edge technology, digital solutions, and high-performance benchmarks set by the Ministry of Power.
