Tamil People's Concerns over India's Solar Project (Coal Plant) In Sampoor and India-Sri Lanka MoUs
The Sampur Solar Projects (AKA: Coal Power Plant) and Tamil Communities:
Land, Identity, and India’s Development Agenda in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province
Introduction
The evolution of the Sampur Power Plant
project-transitioning from an Indian-backed coal venture to a solar
initiative-serves as a powerful lens to examine the intersection of energy
policy, post-war development, geopolitics, and minority rights in Sri Lanka’s
Eastern Province. This report offers a comprehensive and contextualized
analysis of the historical background, strategic and economic motivations, key
Sri Lanka-India agreements, and, critically, the responses of local Tamil
communities who have long perceived such megaprojects as new avenues of
displacement and ethnic marginalization under the banners of progress and
security. Through in-depth exploration of displacement accounts, legal and
social mobilization, the discovery of human remains and suspected mass graves,
and present project developments, this report foregrounds the pressing concerns
around land, identity, reparations, and justice that continue to animate the
struggle for recognition and redress among Sri Lanka’s Tamil population.
Historical Background: The Sampur Power Plant in Context
Trincomalee and Sampur: A Region Shaped by Conflict and Transformation
Sampur, situated in the Trincomalee District of Eastern Sri
Lanka, has long been a flashpoint for Sri Lankan ethnic politics and post-war
state development policies. Home to a predominantly Tamil population, this
region was deeply affected by the country’s three-decade civil conflict,
particularly during military offensives in the late 20th and early 21st
centuries1. As the site where large numbers of Tamil families fled
repeated waves of violence-most notably during the Sampur Massacre of July
1990-Sampur’s history is one of trauma, survival, and contested claims of
belonging and ownership2. The strategic importance of Trincomalee,
possessing one of the world’s best natural harbors, further intensified its
role in both military strategy and post-war development planning, making Sampur
a focal point for both national and international interests.
Origins and Genesis of the Sampur Power Plant Project
The idea for a major energy development in Sampur first took
concrete shape in the mid-2000s, as part of joint Indo-Lankan efforts to
address Sri Lanka’s burgeoning electricity needs and strategically cement
bilateral ties3. In June 2005, India's National Thermal Power
Corporation (NTPC) proposed a coal or liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant of 900
MW, later reduced to a 500 MW coal-fired project4. A Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for the first phase was signed on 29 December 2006 between
the Government of Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), and NTPC4.
The site chosen for the plant was land in Sampur, formerly home to hundreds of
Tamil families who had been displaced by war and government-declared
high-security zones.
Tumultuous Development Path
The project’s trajectory was marred by frequent delays,
legal challenges, environmental opposition, and mounting resistance from local
communities. By the early 2010s, after more than seven years of bureaucratic
hurdles and site preparation-including the demolition of local homes and the
fencing off of erstwhile Tamil agricultural lands-the Power Purchase Agreement,
Land Lease, and other related contracts were signed in 201356. The
project, however, would never materialize in its original coal-fired form. Instead,
a series of environmental, legal, and social mobilizations ultimately
culminated in the project’s official cancellation in 2016 and its eventual
reconfiguration into a solar energy venture by 20256. The
consequences for local populations, however, remained deeply entangled with
unresolved issues of land, displacement, and community identity.
Strategic and Economic Significance
Trincomalee’s Geopolitical Position
Trincomalee’s port and its surrounding lands have for
decades attracted the interest of regional powers. For India, close engagement
in the development of Sampur and associated energy infrastructure has served
multiple security, economic, and diplomatic goals-including energy access,
influence over shipping lanes, and counterbalancing China’s growing presence
elsewhere on the island (as with Hambantota Port)7. The proximity of
Sampur to the Trincomalee harbor elevated the location’s symbolic and material
value in strategic calculus, making any project there especially consequential.
Energy Policy, Economic Development, and Post-war Reconstruction
From Sri Lanka’s perspective, the impetus for a major power
plant in Sampur was rooted in concerns about energy security. The country faced
frequent power shortages and blackouts, underscoring the critical need for new
base-load generating capacity to fuel economic recovery after the war8.
Partnering with India, one of the world’s energy giants, was also seen as a way
to secure financing, technology transfer, and regional goodwill. The joint
venture structure (CEB and NTPC as 50:50 owners) theoretically promised mutual
benefit, but local and expert criticism pointed to lopsided risk-sharing and
issues of sovereignty7.
Transformation to Solar: Aligning with Sustainable Development Goals
By the early 2020s, domestic and international pressures to
shift away from fossil fuels-along with the environmental and social
controversies dogging the coal project-led to the prioritization of renewable
alternatives. Sri Lanka set an ambitious target of achieving 70% renewable
energy capacity by 2030, supported by international aid (notably from Japan and
the United Nations) and partnerships with India and other global actors98.
The transformation to a solar project in Sampur, now under construction, is
thus a critical pivot toward energy transition, though it does not resolve all
the issues raised by affected Tamil communities9.
India’s Role and Involvement
The Institutional Structure of Cooperation
India’s engagement in Sampur was cemented through direct
economic and technical partnership. NTPC, India’s state-owned power utility and
one of the world’s largest, was the designated lead for the construction and
operation of the plant, in a joint venture with Sri Lanka’s CEB under the
banner of Trincomalee Power Company Limited (TPCL)310. The joint
venture was set up for both the planned 500 MW coal plant and its later solar
incarnation, encompassing all relevant contracts: Power Purchase Agreement,
Implementation Agreement, Land Lease, and Coal (later Renewable) Supply
Agreements.
Beyond Energy:
India’s Regional Security Calculus
For New
Delhi, the Sampur project was always more than an energy project. Its
proximity to Trincomalee meant that Indian interests would be directly impacted
by whatever infrastructure was constructed (or not) there7. Indian
development financing, including $200 million in concessional lines of credit,
technical capacity-building, and high-level political engagement (as seen in
the 2025 ground-breaking by Prime Minister Narendra Modi), all affirmed the
strategic, not merely commercial, character of the project119.
Diplomatic Bargaining and Project Evolution
Initial Indian enthusiasm for a coal plant was balanced by
domestic Sri Lankan political currents, environmental activism, and concerns
about social justice for local populations. Persistent disagreements over
project structure, environmental impacts, and the scope of land acquisition
repeatedly delayed implementation. Critically, domestic pushback in Sri
Lanka-from environmental advocates, Tamil political leaders, and ultimately the
courts-forced a recalibration, leading to the agreement to convert the plan to
a solar-based joint venture by the mid-2020s3.
Key Sri Lanka-India Memorandums of Understanding and Agreements
The history of the Sampur power project is marked by a
series of formal and informal agreements between Sri Lanka and India, many of
which have generated controversy regarding terms, process, and community
impact. The table below summarizes the principal MoUs and related agreements
governing the project’s evolution:
|
Date |
Agreement/MoU |
Parties Involved |
Key Terms/Provisions |
Controversies and
Critiques |
|
Dec 29,
2006 |
Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) for 500 MW coal plant |
Govt. of
Sri Lanka, CEB, NTPC (India) |
Joint
development of 2x250 MW coal plant at Sampur, Trincomalee; full project
structure outlined |
Concerns
over land appropriation, lack of community consultation; displacement of
local Tamils |
|
Oct 7,
2013 |
Power
Purchase, Implementation, BOI, Land Lease, and Coal Supply Agreements |
Govt. of
Sri Lanka, CEB, NTPC, TPCL |
Long-term
land lease for project site; supply of imported coal; commitment to
operationalize by 2017; exclusive joint control |
Secretive
terms, operational control by NTPC, cost escalation, loss of local jobs;
environmental objections |
|
July 11,
2015 |
Joint
Venture and Shareholder Agreement |
CEB, NTPC |
50:50
equity structure; long-term technology transfer and operation; inclusion of
enhancement clause for further capacity |
Alleged
lack of transparency; risk of Sri Lankan sovereignty over critical
infrastructure |
|
2016 |
Project Cancellation Decision (SC undertaking) |
Ministry
of Power/Energy, EFL (petitioners), Supreme Court |
Govt.
informs Supreme Court project will not proceed; fundamental rights
application resolved |
Failure to
offer immediate land return or resettlement to displaced; project area
remains under control |
|
Mar 1,
2022-2025 |
Revised MoU and Power Purchase Agreement for 120
MW solar project |
CEB, NTPC,
GOI, GOSL |
Conversion
to phased solar facility (50 MW, then 70 MW); cost and technology terms
(tariff set at 5.97 US cents/unit); battery storage included |
Local
claims of continued land exclusion, insufficient compensation, lack of prior
and informed consent |
This table encapsulates the agreements’ structure, while
below paragraphs examine the implications and analysis stemming from these
documents.
The original Memorandum of Understanding was hailed as a
milestone in bilateral economic relations, underscoring the willingness of both
countries to forge ahead with strategic energy sector collaboration12.
However, the agreements were consistently criticized by Tamil political parties
(notably the Tamil National Alliance), land rights campaigners, and civil
society groups for their failure to acknowledge or consult the local Tamil
communities whose lands had been appropriated during and after the conflict4.
Moreover, certain contract provisions entrenched foreign
(Indian) operational control; for instance, in the case of any early transfer
of the plant to Sri Lanka’s CEB, the pricing structure could allow NTPC to
demand substantial compensation, raising concerns about Sri Lankan sovereignty
and cost overruns7. The 2013-15 period saw intense negotiation and
lobbying, with ongoing rumors of political connections influencing land
allocations for industrial projects adjacent to the power plant, further
intensifying public skepticism and eroding trust in the process.
Finally, the Supreme Court-acknowledged cancellation of the
coal plant in 2016 did not immediately grant land restitution or redress for
displaced families. Instead, much of the area remained under control of state
bodies, the Navy, or earmarked for new renewable projects, prolonging
uncertainty for those awaiting a return home.
Perceptions and Concerns
of Local Tamil Communities
Land Rights and the Trauma of Displacement
The core grievance of Tamil communities in Sampur revolves
around land. The area earmarked for the coal (and later solar) power plant
corresponded directly to land traditionally owned and cultivated by Tamil
families for generations1314. During the conflict, between
2006-2009, extensive swathes of lands were reclassified as high-security zones
(HSZ) and forcibly cleared of local residents, many of whom were interned in
camps or forced to live in squalor on the periphery, deprived of their means of
livelihood and ancestral connection1. Postwar, the promise of
resettlement was repeatedly deferred or fragmented, with significant tracts
retained for state security purposes or handed over for development.
Case studies and interviews illustrate the enduring
psychological, economic, and cultural costs of displacement. Villagers
accustomed to self-sustaining agriculture and fishing lamented the loss of
access to fertile land, reliable water sources, temples, and cemeteries-core
elements of their identity as a community1. Some displaced families
were reportedly offered minimal, unsuitable land for resettlement, often in
remote or arid locations, with little or no compensation provided for lost
assets or opportunity14.
Continued Expropriation: Solar
Project as Recurring Injustice
The shift from coal to solar power, while environmentally
welcome, has not resolved these tensions for locals. The new solar project,
backed by Indian and Sri Lankan agencies, is sited on the same (or adjacent)
land that had been seized decades earlier, still behind fences and off-limits
to the original claimants15. Local residents, including leaders from
the AHAM Humanitarian Resource Center and other civil society organizations,
continue to demand that their lands be returned, or at the very least that meaningful,
transparent, and consultative compensation processes be organized, with many
expressing skepticism about the authorities’ willingness to follow through14.
Many villagers view the designation of their homeland for
first a coal and then a solar megaproject as a form of “development-based
ethnic cleansing,” emphasizing the pattern by which Tamil-majority areas are
targeted for state-oriented projects without proper participation or consent,
while Sinhalese-majority areas are rarely subjected to equivalent schemes.
Livelihoods, Cultural Survival, and Marginalization
For the Tamil farmers and fishers of Sampur and neighboring
villages, the loss of land is inseparable from broader processes of cultural
and social marginalization. Traditional forms of worship, education, and burial
have all been disrupted-Hindu temples destroyed or inaccessible, schools and
cemeteries co-opted for military or industrial use, and daily life reshaped by
dependency on government handouts and precarious labor in unfamiliar towns13.
Resentment is compounded by perceptions of broken political
promises-from Presidential campaigns that fail to deliver meaningful land
reform, to new agreements that bypass the affected communities altogether. The
incremental release of land (in small tranches, often years apart) has not
resolved the substantive issues, especially when state or military actors
continue to occupy large tracts or profitable coastal access points16.
Legal Challenges, Local Resistance, and Demands for Consultation
Early Mobilization: Protests, Hunger Strikes, and Lawsuits
Local Tamil opposition to the Sampur power projects has
manifested in a blend of visible protest, hunger strikes, and strategic legal
intervention. As early as 2014 and 2015, hundreds of Tamil residents, including
refugee camp dwellers, staged hunger strikes and demonstrations demanding their
right to return and to repossess their lands17. Politically, members
of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and sympathetic lawyers filed fundamental
rights cases and submitted petitions to both national courts and international
human rights bodies.
When the original coal project began to move forward in the
early 2010s, legal action was pursued on several grounds:
·
Environmental and health risks to local
(including Tamil) populations
·
Violation of due process and lack of free,
prior, and informed consent
·
Disregard for the rights of internally displaced
persons (IDPs) and lack of adequate compensation or resettlement planning
In parallel, land rights campaigners documented the ongoing
occupation of vast tracts by the Sri Lankan Navy and industrial enterprises
linked to politically connected businessmen, arguing that these were cases of
illegal seizure, not lawful expropriation for public interest16.
The Supreme Court Cases
and the Environment Foundation Limited’s (EFL) Legal Win
A turning point came in May 2016, when the EFL and allied
activists filed a Fundamental Rights Application to Supreme Court, arguing both
environmental (risk of pollution and ecosystem damage) and procedural failings
(lack of valid environmental impact assessment and disregard for earlier
judicial rulings) in the approvals process for the coal plant18.
The government, perhaps under pressure from both local
opposition and international climate commitments, eventually undertook before
the Supreme Court not to proceed with the coal power plant in Sampur. This
legal outcome was celebrated by environmentalists and community activists
alike, though many Tamil residents pointed out that the victory did not
translate into outright land return or reparations for past injustices19.
Continued Resistance Amid
Solar Transition
The ensuing solar project has also not escaped
resistance-albeit with some hope for more environmentally sustainable outcomes.
Protests and petitions continue to call attention to the ongoing occupation of
ancestral lands by both the Navy and energy developers, with letters and legal
documentation highlighted as evidence in appeals to the Eastern Province
Governor and the national administration14. In 2025, coinciding with
the solar plant’s ground-breaking (inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi and
President Dissanayake), locals staged protests pointing out the failure to
restore land or compensate the more than 1000+ original claimants-even as the
state and Indian parties announced a “clean energy milestone”11.
Key Legal and Social Demands
Tamil community demands, as articulated in public petitions,
press statements, and human rights complaints, have focused on several
recurring themes:
·
Full restitution of all lands classified as
state or HSZ property that originally belonged to Tamil villagers
·
Proper and adequate compensation for those
permanently dispossessed or unable to return due to destroyed homes or altered
economic circumstances
·
Transparent and participatory processes for
development projects, including free, prior, and informed consent, not just
token consultation
·
Preservation of cultural and religious sites
(temples, cemeteries)
·
Demilitarization and removal of security
installations not directly justified by wartime needs
·
Guarantees against future displacement disguised
as development
These themes illustrate the depth of unresolved issues in
the Sampur story, transcending environmental or economic arguments to reach the
heart of questions around justice, reparations, and community identity.
Case Studies of Displaced Families
Firsthand narratives offer a window into the human cost of
these protracted land disputes and megaproject politics. In many cases, the
stories of Sampur’s displaced families are emblematic of broader Tamil
experiences across the North and East13.
One widow recounted how her husband, dying of cancer, longed
to be buried in his hometown of Sampur, after years of living in squalor in
government-run displacement camps. Only after legal and administrative advocacy
could she arrange for his burial in the cemetery, which itself had been
converted into a part of a military base. After a Supreme Court decision in
2015, a small group of families (about 250 out of nearly a thousand) was
allowed incremental access to their land-only to find it overgrown, ruined, and
bereft of infrastructure. Even with compensation promises of 38,000 rupees
(~$275), families faced costs far greater simply to clear brush and replant
fields.
In other interviews, villagers described watching their
former fertile fields-once a source of selfsufficiency and dignity-become
barren sites for industry or fenced-military compounds, forcing them into a
life of dependency, “begging for water and food” from government aid while
watching others profit from what was rightfully theirs1.
A recurring complaint is the persistent state and
administrative opacity around deeds, property records, and compensation
processing, with frequent demands that villagers produce “original documents”
lost or destroyed during the war. This Kafkaesque bureaucratic barrier has
become one of the main obstacles to any meaningful settlement16.
Discovery of Human Remains
and Suspected Mass Graves
The 1990 Sampur Massacre and Calls for Justice
The legacy of the 1990 Sampur Massacre looms large over both
community consciousness and the region’s public memory. On July 7, 1990, the
Sri Lankan military launched a violent crackdown, killing at least 57 Tamil
civilians (many women and children) in a single day. Subsequent military
operations drove hundreds more into the nearby forests, with estimates of
deaths in the region exceeding 150 during that period2.
For decades, family members and activists have commemorated
the massacre, carrying the demand for international accountability and forensic
investigation into possible mass graves and disappearances associated with the
attacks.
2025 Discovery of Human
Remains in Sampur
In July 2025, workers from the British demining organization
Mine Action Group uncovered human skeletal remains-including a human
skull-during landmine clearance at a children’s park in Sampur, mere meters
from the original 1990 massacre site20. The discovery prompted local
judicial intervention: Magistrate M. M. Nasleem suspended further demining and
ordered archaeological investigation and forensics. The possibility that this
is another mass grave from the Civil War era has reignited community demands
for independent, internationally supervised forensic investigations and for
government acknowledgment of the full extent of war-era mass killings21.
Broader Pattern of Mass
Graves in Sri Lanka
The context of the Sampur find is a broader wave of mass
grave exhumations across Sri Lanka-most notoriously at Chemmani (Jaffna),
Kurukkalmadam (Batticaloa), and other sites where wartime atrocities against
Tamils have been suspected or documented22. Critics and human rights
lawyers argue that unless the government collaborates with international
forensic anthropologists and DNA laboratories, these investigations will remain
inconclusive and open to manipulation. The persistence of these graves, some
15+ years after the end of war, stands as a stark reminder that Sri Lankan
reconciliation remains incomplete, especially for Tamils seeking truth,
justice, and closure.
The Current Status of the
Sampur Power Project
From Coal to Solar: Technical and Policy Updates
In response to years of opposition, the Sampur coal project
was formally abandoned by the Sri Lankan state in 2016. This decision, hailed
by both environmental and Tamil activists, was also celebrated as an alignment
with Sri Lanka’s Paris Climate Agreement commitments and a national shift
toward sustainable energy196. The area’s pristine coral reefs and
unique marine ecosystems, together with concerns about particulate and chemical
pollution, were cited as key justifications for the shift.
By 2025, following intensive diplomacy and renegotiation,
Sri Lanka and India have agreed to a 120 MW solar power project-developed in
two phases (first 50 MW, then 70 MW), under the aegis of NTPC and CEB’s joint
venture TPCL119. The finalized tariff has been set at 5.97 US cents
per unit, with the latest technology-including battery energy
storage-incorporated for grid stability and efficiency.
The solar farm is expected to break ground on a 500-acre
tract, previously earmarked for the coal plant and still contested by local
claimants. Transmission infrastructure is being funded in part by the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with complementary rural electrification
and grid upgrades extending to Kappalthurai and New Habarana23.
Continued Social and Environmental Concerns
While the transition to solar is widely seen as a positive
step for Sri Lanka’s energy security and climate goals, Tamil organizations and
affected families maintain that the development model continues to exclude them
from decision-making and restitution. Issues around incomplete or denied
compensation, continuing occupation of lands by the Navy, and opaque grievance
processes have been raised in successive protests, petitions to the Human
Rights Commission, and direct appeals to political authorities14. Notably,
some families-frustrated by the slow progress-have refused to accept
resettlement on barren lands or nominal payments, insisting on restoration of
their original, fertile properties.
Local protests, notably during the high-profile inauguration
of the solar plant by Indian and Sri Lankan leaders in April 2025, once again
underscored the disconnect between national energy achievement narratives and
community experiences of persistent dispossession9.
Future Plans, Alternatives, and Community Demands
Sri Lanka’s Energy Future: Renewable Priorities
National energy policy has now set the goal of 70% renewable
energy in the grid mix by 2030, supported by a suite of solar, wind, and small
hydro initiatives, alongside international grant and soft loan
funding-especially from Japan and the United Nations8. The Clean Sri
Lanka initiative includes rural solarizations, biogas dissemination, and
improved cookstove programs specifically targeting vulnerable farming
communities in the North and East. Improved transmission infrastructure, such
as the New Habarana - Kappalthurai double-circuit line, is being developed in
line with international best social and environmental practices, aiming to
minimize further livelihood and resettlement disruptions23.
The Sampur solar plant represents a critical test for the
inclusivity and justice of Sri Lanka’s “green” transition-success will depend
not only on technical performance and emission reductions, but on whether local
populations tangibly benefit and see their rights and needs respected.
Demands for Genuine Consultation and Participatory Development
Tamil civil society groups, both regionally and in the
diaspora, continue to accentuate the importance of free, prior, and informed
consent, transparent consultation processes, and the restitution of ancestral
lands as prerequisites for any future projects, whether energy, industrial, or
touristic in nature. Olivine advocacy efforts frame these demands as necessary
both for reconciliation and for breaking the cycle of enforced marginalization
that characterizes much of Sri Lanka’s post-war development trajectory14.
Additionally, activists and families have called for:
·
Monitored, international forensic investigations
of all suspected mass grave sites, including DNA testing and public reporting
·
Establishment of independent land commissions to
address unresolved land restitution cases
·
Preservation and rebuilding of destroyed
cultural and religious sites
·
Legal and social accountability for historic
atrocities, committed both by state actors and their proxies
Sri Lanka’s ability to build a truly post-war, inclusive
developmental state may well depend on how it responds to these calls-not just
in Sampur, but across its multi-ethnic polity.
Conclusion
The story of the Sampur Power Plant-its origins,
controversies, and evolving aftermath-offers a microcosm of several enduring
themes in contemporary Sri Lanka: the entangled legacies of war and
displacement; the competing logics of geopolitics, national development, and
minority rights; and the ongoing struggle between centralized state planning,
international interests, and locally-rooted demands for justice.
Key Takeaways
·
Land,
livelihood, and heritage remain at the core of Tamil community grievances in
Sampur.
·
Transition
from coal to solar represents progress in environmental terms but has not
resolved the fundamental issues of justice or inclusion for local Tamils.
·
India’s
role, while pivotal for strategic and energy development, raises questions
about regional influence and the place of marginalized minorities in shaping
their own future.
·
Recent
discoveries of human remains and commemoration of past massacres reinforce the
need for meaningful truth, accountability, and reparation processes.
·
The
success of renewable energy modernization in Sri Lanka will ultimately be
measured not only in megawatts or carbon saved, but in the fulfillment of
rights, dignity, and security for all its people, especially those whose
histories are so deeply tied to the lands in question.
Appendix: Table of Key Sampur Project MoUs and Agreements
|
Date |
Agreement/MoU |
Parties
Involved |
Key
Terms/Provisions |
Controversies
and Critiques |
|
Dec 29, 2006 |
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for 500 MW coal
plant |
Govt. of Sri Lanka, CEB, NTPC (India) |
Joint development of 2x250 MW coal plant at Sampur,
Trincomalee; full project structure outlined |
Concerns over land appropriation, lack of community
consultation; displacement of local Tamils |
|
Oct 7, 2013 |
Power Purchase, Implementation, BOI, Land Lease, and
Coal Supply Agreements |
Govt. of Sri Lanka, CEB, NTPC, TPCL |
Long-term land lease for project site; supply of
imported coal; commitment to operationalize by 2017; exclusive joint control |
Secretive terms, operational control by NTPC, cost
escalation, loss of local jobs; environmental objections |
|
July 11, 2015 |
Joint Venture and Shareholder Agreement |
CEB, NTPC |
50:50 equity structure; long-term technology
transfer and operation; inclusion of enhancement clause for further capacity |
Alleged lack of transparency; risk of Sri Lankan
sovereignty over critical infrastructure |
|
2016 |
SC Undertaking to Cancel |
Ministry of Power/Energy, EFL (petitioners), Supreme
Court |
Govt. informs Supreme Court project will not
proceed; fundamental rights application resolved |
Failure to offer immediate land return or
resettlement to displaced; project area remains under control |
|
Mar 2022-2025 |
Revised MoU and Power Purchase Agreement for 120 MW
solar project |
CEB, NTPC, GOI, GOSL |
Conversion to phased solar facility (50 MW, then 70
MW); cost and technology terms (tariff set at 5.97 US cents/unit); battery
storage included |
Local claims of continued land exclusion,
insufficient compensation, lack of prior and informed consent |
Each agreement above
reflects broader tensions between development imperatives, environmental
responsibility, and the imperative to recognize and uphold minority rights.
Only by comprehensively addressing these interlinked challenges can the
continuing project in Sampur-and similar future initiatives-fulfill their
potential as engines for shared progress and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.
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protestors demand resettlement in Sampur. https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/hundreds-tamil-protestors-demand-resettlement-sampur
14. Protest against
acquiring land for Navy camp and Sampur solar power .... https://srilankabrief.org/protest-against-acquiring-land-for-navy-camp-and-sampur-solar-power-plant-held/
15. Sri Lanka: Farmers
fight solar plans on ancestral lands - DW. https://www.dw.com/en/sri-lanka-farmers-fight-solar-plans-on-ancestral-lands/a-73522742
16. Sampur residents
submit over 1000 documents on land issues to human .... https://www.tamilguardian.com/index.php/content/sampur-residents-submit-over-1000-documents-land-issues-human-rights-commission
17. Sampur resident
begins hunger-strike demanding Sri Lanka to return .... https://www.tamilguardian.com/index.php/content/sampur-resident-begins-hunger-strike-demanding-sri-lanka-return-appropriated-land
18. Roar Media Archive
- The Sampur Coal Power Project Will Not Go Ahead .... https://archive.roar.media/english/life/reports/sampur-coal-power-project-will-not-go-ahead-need-know
19. Coalition Against
Coal hails move to cancel Sampur. https://www.bioenergysrilanka.lk/coalition-against-coal-hails-move-to-cancel-sampur/
20. 35ஆவது ஆண்டுகள்
கடந்தும் நீதி கிடைக்கவில்லை - சம்பூர் படுகொலை .... https://www.news21.lk/Justice-not-achieved-even-after-35-years-Sampur-massacre-commemoration
21. Explainer: Another
Mass Grave and the 1990 Sampur Massacres. https://sangam.org/explainer-another-mass-grave-and-the-1990-sampur-massacres/
22. Can this Govt.
reckon with a brutal past? Unearthing truths about Sri .... https://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/Can-this-Govt-reckon-with-a-brutal-past-Unearthing-truths-about-Sri-Lankas-mass-graves-so-close-but-yet-too-far/131-318941
23. Sri Lanka: New
Habarana - Kappalthurai Transmission Grid Expansion Project. https://www.aiib.org/en/projects/details/2025/proposed/sri-lanka-new-habarana-kappalthurai-transmission-grid-expansion-project.html

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