Presentation short abstract

India's stated intent to decarbonise by 2070 does not translate into a specific point in time or space for coal mining to end. The end of coal is an abstract concept, empirically observable through protracted processes of mine closure, encapsulated within expanding coal extraction.

Presentation long abstract

The end of coal in a major fossil fuel extractor like India is urgent. And yet, the country’s stated intent to decarbonise by 2070 does not translate into a specific point in time or space for coal mining to end. This paper argues that any coal closures must be viewed in relation to a larger ‘extractive continuum’, the continuous range of extractive activities undertaken by the state and its allies, which coexists with the country’s political narrative on decarbonisation. It contends that the end of coal is an abstract concept, empirically observable through protracted processes of mine closure, encapsulated within expanding coal extraction. Intensive qualitative research in Ib Valley coalfield in northwestern Odisha confirms this continuum of coal extraction. The paper reveals how strategic calculations around land acquisition by coal proponents have staggered dispossession in mining villages here over decades. This process is reconfiguring micro-geographies in the coalfield, deepening social divisions, and creating new fractures. The paper demonstrates how staggered dispossession, as a highly effective mode of power of the extractive continuum, works to weaken coalfield communities, while intensifying their dependence on the coal proponent. These impacts deeply constrain local political agency to envision, let alone steer, a coal-free future.