Abstract

This paper examines transport infrastructure of only middling quality at a Jharkhand coalfield as supporting rather than preventing national energy security. The modest technical efficiency of the infrastructure emerges from a need to align the national provision of energy with a complex political ecology of coal in which various actors seek benefits from its 'safe' transport, supply coal to cottage industries and provide alternative livelihoods for the displaced. Unlike in Mitchell's Carbon Democracy, Jharkhand's 'so-so' coal infrastructure ensures delivery of coal by being dispersed and flexible, thereby allowing supply by avoiding blockades from influential groups close to the mines.

Keywords

Coal transport; energy security; infrastructure; Jharkhand; Maoists; materiality; political ecology

Published in

South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies
2017, Volume: 40, number: 4, pages: 895-909

SLU Authors

• Oskarsson, Patrik

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels


UKÄ Subject classification

Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2017.1375042

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/85226