Development-Induced Dispossession in Pakistan: A Study of Political Economy of Thar Coal-Power Plants, a CPEC Project under the Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

This article investigates the phenomenon of Pakistani development-induced dispossession by examining the Thar Coal Power Plants through a political economy analysis. The plants are a major power-generation initiative in China Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Basing the research on the theoretical backgrounds of the theory of accumulation by dispossession by Rosa Luxemburg and a critique on neoliberal space restructuring by David Harvey, the paper examines the convergence between global capital, state and the provincial government to support extractive development at the cost of the marginalized local people. The Thar region where the lignite coal has been found in huge abundance has seen a rapid infrastructural growth, acquisition of land, and a change in the environment. As the solution to the energy crisis in Pakistan, the coal power plants have initiated natural resources dispossession, displacement, loss of livelihoods and ecological degradation. In this study qualitative case analysis was adopted and relied on interviews, policy documents, and newspaper accounts of events to reveal the dynamics of dispossession and the socio-political forces behind this process. The analysis reveals that dispossession in Thar is not merely a byproduct of development but a structural feature of capitalist expansion under the BRI. It highlights the complicity of federal and provincial institutions in legitimizing extractive practices and the limited avenues for community resistance. The paper concludes by advocating for a more inclusive development paradigm that prioritizes environmental justice, participatory governance, and equitable resource distribution.