ABSTRACT
Despite more than two decades of impressive GDP growth, India’s growth has remained confined to enclaves of prosperity surrounded by vast hinterlands of deprivation. This chapter locates the issue of energy and infrastructure in the large tribal context, the differentia–specifica of tribal societies in India and analyses the status of energy and infrastructure provisioning by the state and gaps therein, along with the impact of the same on tribal livelihoods and development. The chapter looks at the probable reasons behind poor infrastructural provisioning and inequities between tribal and non-tribal areas. It also looks at the issue of state capacities to deliver as a crucial determinant of the success of infrastructure provisioning by the state before concluding with policy recommendations.
