Is there a Post-Coal Future?

Abstract This chapter traces the long-term changes affecting the displaced from the three studied coal mines over 20 years. As some of the studied mines have been closed, the life-time of the mine is inevitably over, and yet the land is not returned to the displaced, who continue to experience the effects of displacement. Indicating the path India will take in a future where renewables replace coal energy, middle-class values dominate the closed mine with its eco-tourism park and carbon offsetting via forest plantations rather than land uses able to generate new livelihoods. At the moment, the process of listening to local people for a truly just transition is not in place.