Tribal Land Rights and Renewable Energy Expansion in India: Reconciling Climate Goals with Constitutional and Human Rights Obligations

India’s ambitious increase in renewable energy works under a backdrop of long-standing issues of tribal land rights and environmental justice. Although the Constitution and laws such as PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (FRA) recognise tribal self-government and their rights over their land, the development of large-scale solar and wind projects is putting pressure on communally held agricultural, forest, or pasture lands (Land Conflict Watch, and many instances). The Land Acquisition Act (2013) states that for any land to be acquired in Scheduled Areas, Gram Sabha consent will be required to have the land acquired (Right to Fair Compensation and R&R Act). Despite the existence of these protections, technical implementation gaps exist that allow many projects to move forward without authentic free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and without shared benefits. The Primary focus of this article will be on India’s legal system, including the Constitution (Articles 15(4), 46, and 244, Fifth and Sixth Schedule),  statutory provisions (PESA, FRA, LARR and the Electricity Act 2003), and renewable energy policy, as well as secondary case law from both before and after 2025. These documents and examples will be used to explore the obligations placed upon the country of India by international and domestic human rights standards, including international conventions such as (the ILO) and (UNDRIP), environmental regulations such as (EIA) and (FPIC) and to demonstrate the relationship between green energy and Indigenous peoples’ rights using comparative examples from other countries (Brazil-examples of wind power developments amongst Pankararu Tribes, First Nations in Canada having become energy partners and native title litigation in Australia with solar energy development).