Indigenous communities in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district are protesting a massive solar power project funded by a $434.25 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project requires over 2,400 hectares of land and threatens to displace around 20,000 people across 23 villages.

The affected tribes argue the land is “not barren or uninhabited, but full of crops, fruit trees and traditional cultivation.” They say the project violates their rights under the Sixth Schedule, and that landowners are being “terrorized into agreeing to accept compensations meekly not on their own free will.” There was “no consent or proper consultation” with many communities, despite ADB claims of broad support.

Protests have escalated through public rallies, petitions, and statements rejecting the project’s legitimacy. Communities warn the project will destroy their ancestral territory, stating, “We do not want alternative land at a different place. We have been living here for more than six hundred years since our great grandfather’s time.” Demands are mounting for ADB to “stop funding the Assam solar project which displaces Indigenous tribes.”

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre contacted the ADB for a response but did not receive one.