25 March, 2026 – Chandigarh : The controversy surrounding the suicide of Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC) district manager Gagandeep Singh Randhawa has brought into focus the functioning of one of Punjab’s most profitable public sector undertakings, bringing to the fore allegations of political interference in lucrative warehouse construction tenders.
Randhawa’s death has led to serious allegations against former minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, with claims that the officer was under pressure to allot a warehouse construction tender to Bhullar’s father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, allegedly in violation of prescribed norms.
Sources indicate that the proposed site —spread over nearly 17 acres — had a high-tension power line passing overhead, rendering it unsuitable under technical guidelines.
The corporation, a key agency in the procurement and storage of food grains in Punjab, handles approximately 65 lakh metric tonnes of wheat, paddy and cotton annually through its network of around 120 warehouses.
With an annual profit ranging between Rs 200 crore and Rs 250 crore, the corporation is widely regarded as one of the richest PSUs in the state.
Its financial strength has also made it central to high-value infrastructure projects, particularly warehouse construction, where tenders run into hundreds of crores.
Officials and insiders suggest that this has increasingly attracted political interest, leading to allegations of undue influence and pressure in contract allocation.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI), a major stakeholder, pays nearly Rs 550 crore annually to the corporation for storage facilities used under the central pool.
In addition, state agencies such as Pungrain, Punsup and Markfed rely heavily on its infrastructure.
Pension corpus of Rs 1,600 cr
Highlighting the corporation’s financial robustness, its former technical officer Gurmit Singh noted that the PSU had even extended a loan of Rs 1,500 crore to the cash-strapped Punjab Government. “It is among the few PSUs that remain consistently profitable while maintaining large-scale operations,” he said.
Singh also pointed out to the corporation’s unique pension structure. “It is perhaps the only PSU in the state with a dedicated pension corpus of about Rs 1,600 crore managed through a trust,” he said.
The fund supports nearly 1,500 pensioners, with another 300 expected to be added in the coming years.
A life patron of the Progressive Warehouse Pensioners Welfare Association, Singh, who led a prolonged legal battle from 2012 to 2018 to secure the pension corpus, said the system was designed to ensure sustainability “till the last pensioner.”
He has chronicled a book on the history of the corporation and the legal battle fought for the pensions.
Meanwhile, the association has expressed shock over Randhawa’s death, calling for a fair and transparent probe. The association has also raised concerns about increasing political interference in the corporation’s functioning, particularly in the awarding of contracts.
As investigations continue, the incident has sparked a broader debate on governance and accountability within profitable state-run enterprises, with PSWC now at the centre of both administrative scrutiny and political controversy.
The Tribune