Land is the foundation of development, industrial, and urban projects across the globe. However, diverting land for above projects results in appropriation of means of production from communities, exacerbating existing inequalities, and environmental degradation. Hence, land conflicts are inherent within the developmental paradigm, and India is not exception to it. A fair, transparent, and just framework for compensating both landowners and land users has never been fully implemented in India. While landowners have at times received compensation, those who rely on land-use rights largely been ignored. This omission particularly especially harms rural women and marginalized communities, who often depend on commons and shared resources for household needs and income. These processes seem to be ingrained even in India’s ‘transition’ to renewable energy.
It is true that traditional development projects are exclusionary, but some benefits indirectly reached local communities through jobs or the growth of informal economies. In contrast, RE projects often follow a sharper paradox. Solar and wind parks tend to rely on land leased or acquired in opaque and exclusionary ways, and they usually provide limited local economic opportunities. Evidence from existing solar parks shows this model reinforce social and gender inequalities where women are systematically sidelined in compensation processes, decision-making, and employment. These projects thus can entrench socio-economic exclusion rather than upliftment.
The issue is especially acute in arid and semi-arid regions. Community grazing lands, forest fringesforfuelwood, and seasonal farming plots provide essentialsustenance, particularly for rural women managing household needs. When RE projects enclose these commons, entire communities lose critical resources without viable alternatives. Moreover, such projects can disrupt social practices that once enabled women’s solidarity and resilience. For example, collective activities like communal grazing or fuelwood gathering are often spaces of mutual support and cultural memory among women and losing these can erode community cohesion. In short, energy transition planning needs not only just compensation for landowners but also explicit recognition and restitution for customary land users (especially women) to prevent deepening inequalities.
However, shifting from ownership-based compensation to a system that recognizes use rights, and doing so in a gender-sensitive way, requires navigating complex legal, economic, and governance challenges. This session will analyse these complexities by examining when and how customary and collective use rights (including those held by women’s groups) can be recognized within RE land policies.
About the session speakers
Ms Shipra Deo
Global Gender and Land Advisor, Landesa
Panelist
Shipra Deo leads Landesa’s work to strengthen women’s land rights in India. She is a development practitioner with more than 20 years of experience in managing multidisciplinary programs addressing women’s empowerment, women’s land rights, violence against women, agriculture, collective action, livelihoods and institution building. She has experience working with international agencies such as UNDP, USAID, and BMGF, and has also worked with state governments and national as well as grassroots organizations. She has worked closely with development projects in South Asia, Africa, and Central Europe with the focus on gender mainstreaming.
Dr Moatoshi Ao
Assistant Professor in Faculty of Law, University of Delhi
Panelist
Dr. Moatoshi Ao is a faculty member at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He teaches Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Company Law, and Environmental Law. His research explores the Sixth Schedule and Special Provisions of the Constitution of India, with a particular focus on the intersections of Customary Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Environmental Law, and Governance.
Prof Himanshu Upadhyaya
Associate Professor, Prestige University, Indore
Panelist
Himanshu has a deep interest in studying and teaching environmental policy and regulatory framework. With a deep interest in environmental history, his doctoral research explored the cultural, social and economic lives of bovine animals in late colonial India. Outside of his academic work, he was actively involved with several environmental justice movements from 2000-2010. He has spent time working with several civil society and academic organisations such as the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People; Hydro Monitor India at Delhi Forum; Intercultural Resources (with prominent Post-Development scholar Smitu Kothari); the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (where he authored a research study titled Performance and Development Effectiveness of Sardar Sarovar Dam Project in 2008). A collection of his popular articles on the Narmada Dam were published in 2010 under the title ‘Big Dam, Bigger Questions’ by the Delhi Forum. He was also part of an oral history project culminating in the publication of testimonies by environmental activists titled ‘Plural Narratives from the Narmada Valley (2010).
Dr Anuj Goyal
Research Fellow, CEEP
Panelist
Anuj leads the inclusive renewables at CEEP. A PhD in Public Policy, his expertise lies in socio-economic and political dynamics, with research focusing on energy transition, economic and spatial transformation, environmental policy, and the electoral ramifications of welfare policies. With experience across corporate, academic, and social sectors, Anuj combines experiential knowledge with scholarly pursuits.
An avid reader, Anuj is deeply interested in the history of food, Indian political philosophy, Hindi literature, and cinema. His multifaceted interests and scholarly contributions exemplify a commitment to comprehensive understanding and innovative problem-solving. An astute observer of Indian politics, Anuj adopts a holistic approach to governance, drawing information from various sources to facilitate his betting endeavours on electoral outcomes.
Ms Samiksha Bharti
Senior Research Associate, Centre for Energy, Environment & People (CEEP)
Moderator
Samiksha is a researcher and writer specialising in public policy and governance. With a Master's degree in Political Science, she has engaged deeply with socio-political structures, gender studies, and environmental policy. Her research focuses on policy evaluations and grassroots mobilisation, reflecting her commitment to understanding governance from a holistic perspective.
Samiksha has worked across diverse sectors, including research fellowships, content writing, and public relations, combining scholarly insights with real-world applications. Beyond academia and research, she embraces minimalism in various aspects of her life - from travel planning and resourceful decision-making to a deep appreciation for reading fiction and non-fiction books.