Karnataka, India

James Goodman; Gareth Bryant; Linda Connor; Devleena Ghosh; Jonathan Paul Marshall; Tom Morton; Katja Müller; Stuart Rosewarne; Riikka Heikkinen; Lisa Lumsden; Mareike Pampus; Priya Pillai

doi:10.1017/9781009485609.004

3 - Karnataka, India

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 June 2025

Jonathan Paul Marshall ,

Tom Morton ,

Riikka Heikkinen and

James Goodman: Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Gareth Bryant: Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Linda Connor: Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Devleena Ghosh: Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Jonathan Paul Marshall: Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Tom Morton: Affiliation:
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
Katja Müller: Affiliation:
Merseburg University for Applied Sciences
Stuart Rosewarne: Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Riikka Heikkinen: Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Lisa Lumsden: Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Mareike Pampus: Affiliation:
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
Priya Pillai: Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney

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Summary

The chapter explores the social relations of renewable energy and everyday life in the Indian state of Karnataka, focusing on the 2 GW Pavagada solar energy park, said to be the largest in Asia, and on the experience of wind energy at the local level. It analyses these installations in the historical context of national and state-level energy policy, framed by wider developmental dynamics and stratification in the Karnataka locality. We contrast the renewable ‘resource’ with fossil fuel sources and highlight differences between solar and wind power. We discuss the drive to attract renewable investment to the region, along with development finance, in the context of Karnataka’s development trajectory. We interpret the transition to renewable energy in terms of social structures and the extent to which it exacerbates or alleviates pre-existing social divides. There is a strong focus on implications for land, water, livelihood, caste, gender, and environment, including for instance the role, or displacement, of rural landless and lower-caste groups.

Keywords

India energy transition large-scale wind large-scale solar social impacts Karnataka ethnography

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: Decarbonising Electricity
The Promise of Renewable Energy Regions
, pp. 97 - 133

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009485609.004 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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