Adani project built on Muslim misery as thousands displaced in Assam
Dispur: A major power project being built by the Adani Group in Assam has brought renewed scrutiny over the displacement of Bengali-origin Muslim families, after the foundation stone was laid on land from which around 1,400 Muslim families were evicted and nearly 10,000 people displaced.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday laid the foundation stone for Adani Power Limited’s 3,200-megawatt thermal power project in Dhubri district. The project is spread across Charuabakhra, Chirakuta I and II, and Santoshpur villages, where the homes of the Muslim families were demolished in July 2025.
The families, many of whom had lived in the area for three to four decades and included people who had lost ancestral homes to Brahmaputra erosion, were displaced from nearly 1,157 acres of land.
The state government subsequently allotted the land to Assam Power Distribution Company Limited, which in turn allotted it to Adani Power for the proposed project.
For the displaced families, the development has created a deeply painful contrast: homes that had sheltered them for generations were demolished, while the same land is now being prepared for a multi-billion-rupee industrial project.
Residents have questioned how their homes could be treated as disposable while the land is now being presented as the site of a major economic investment.
The project, described by Sarma as Assam’s “biggest-ever power project”, involves an investment of around Rs48,000 crore and is expected to generate up to 20,000 jobs during construction and around 5,000 after becoming operational.
However, serious questions remain over rehabilitation and compensation.
In its application for environmental clearance, Adani Power told the Environment Ministry that there were no habitations at the project site and, therefore, no rehabilitation or resettlement claims. Affected residents have disputed this account, saying the area had been cleared through eviction drives. They said that about 1the land belonging to people holding land titles were also taken.
The Dhubri evictions are part of a wider pattern of demolition drives in BJP-ruled Assam that have disproportionately affected areas inhabited by Bengali-speaking Muslims. At least eight Muslims have reportedly been killed in police firing during eviction drives since 2016.
