Extractive Regimes in the Coal Heartlands of India: Difficult Questions for a Just Energy Transition

The dispossession regime of India's ultra mega power projects (UMPPs): case of a captive coal based UMPP in Jharkhand

“…During the first decade of its becoming, Jharkhand saw more projects on paper than the ones making actual on-ground progress (Nathan and Dayal 2009). Jharkhand's formative years suffered due to inexperienced political leadership and a fragmented bureaucracy, where frequent change in guard translated into frequent transfers of key bureaucrats (Chhotray 2022). Thus, a unique scenario emerged in Jharkhand, in which, while the state was constantly in flux, the tendency of the state was to constantly rent seek, as long as it lasted.…”