New Delhi, March 27 -- Simson Ingti, a young law graduate who hails from Bokajan in Assam's autonomous hill district of Karbi Anglong, is livid. He has been joined by 300 other protestors at Diphu, the district headquarters of Karbi Anglong, demanding the local administration scrap a renewable energy project aimed to cut down India's reliance on fossil fuels. The increasing protest against the solar project however shows that the proposed project may not be as 'green' as what it is intended to be.

On March 26, the protestors belonging to various political formulations representing tribal bodies rallied against the Assam government's plans to divert 18,000 bighas (2,396.5 ha) of tribal land to a solar power project supported by the Asian ...