India: In huge win for Indigenous groups after sustained campaign in Karbi, ADB cancels $434 million Assam solar project over land rights, livelihood violations & community threats
"Indigenous communities in Assam win key victory as ADB cancels loan for controversial solar project", 2 June 2025
In a landmark victory for Indigenous rights and environmental justice, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) cancelled its $434 million loan and technical assistance for a 500 MW solar PV facility, Assam Solar Park, in Karbi Anglong District, on 23rd May 2025. This decision follows a sustained, community-led campaign by the Karbi Anglong Solar Power Project Affected People’s Rights Committee (Committee), representing over 20,000 Karbi, Naga, and Adivasi families who were threatened to be displaced from their ancestral lands by this project. Supported by the Government of Assam and the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL), the project was poised to become one of the largest land grabs in Assam’s history. By acquiring 2,400 hectares of land. These lands are primarily comprising agricultural, forest, and customary lands with deep cultural, spiritual, and livelihood significance for the Indigenous communities, protected under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The ADB approved the investment in October 2024, despite opposition from affected indigenous communities and in violation of its safeguards and Sixth Schedule protections of the Indian Constitution. Communities asserted that ADB failed to obtain Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), holding consultations in only 9 of 23 impacted villages and excluding thousands from the process. Key documents like the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and the Resettlment and Indigenous Peoples Plan (RIPP) were not publicly disclosed or translated into local languages, denying access to critical information. Community members also reported intimidation and threats, including fraudulent land claims by outsiders seeking compensation. ..The project posed severe gendered and cultural risks; women, who play central roles in agriculture and community livelihoods, faced loss of land and secure income. The loss of land also threatened to dismantle traditional knowledge systems, sever cultural ties, and disconnect communities from their sacred spaces.
..This result is an affirmation of the power of grassroots organizing, collective advocacy, and Indigenous resistance. It also sends a strong message to international financial institutions: Development and energy transition cannot come at the cost of grabbing Indigenous lands and violating Indigenous communities’ free, prior, and informed consent.