This book derives from research and fieldwork in the rural and tribal hinterland of India, particularly in the mineral rich states. It looks at the nuances of land and resource politics and summarizes the long-standing land acquisition and mining debate. It discusses the relevant theoretical arguments from inter-disciplinary perspectives and develops an argument through the case study of Singrauli, a region in Madhya Pradesh in India, that has seen various 'regimes of dispossession' in the last six decades in India. It looks at the legal and policy arguments around right to property, 'fair' compensation, public purpose and the resource curse debate, and at contested 'spaces' (left wing extremism) and resource-capital relationships.
It highlights the reasons for large scale land conflicts in India, scale of stalled investments, social movements, evolution of land acquisition and mining laws, and what led to the amendments of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act 2013 and Mining and Mineral Act 2015.
