1. Introduction

Renewable-energy development is often presented as a technological and environmental transition, but it is equally a land-governance problem. Solar parks, wind farms, transmission corridors, battery-storage facilities, green-hydrogen plants and associated infrastructure require large areas of land. The legal difficulty is not merely acquiring land; it is determining who owns or controls it, what rights exist over it, whether those rights are transferable or leaseable, and how competing public, private, customary and environmental interests are reconciled.

In India, land is primarily a State subject, while acquisition, property rights, forests, environmental regulation and electricity regulation operate through overlapping constitutional and statutory frameworks. Consequently, renewable projects may encounter private ownership, government land, community/common land, forest land, tribal rights, tenancy rights, easements and competing claims recorded in revenue records.

2. Meaning of Land Tenure

Land tenure refers to the legal relationship through which an individual, community, government or other entity holds, possesses, uses or controls land.

In renewable energy, tenure may take several forms:

Freehold/private ownership – the developer purchases land.

Leasehold – land is leased for the project period.

Government allotment – government or revenue land is allotted to a developer.

Easement/right of way – transmission lines or access roads cross land without transferring ownership.

Community/common land – land is collectively used for grazing or other customary purposes.

Forest land – use may require additional statutory approval regardless of ownership.

Customary or tribal tenure – formal title may not fully describe the rights actually exercised by communities.

Thus, obtaining physical possession does not necessarily mean that the developer has obtained a legally secure tenure.

3. Private Land and Security of Title

A renewable-energy developer normally requires long-term control because solar and wind projects may operate for decades. Therefore, defects in title can become a major project risk.

A developer must examine:

registered ownership;

mutation and revenue records;

succession claims;

mortgages and encumbrances;

tenancy rights;

litigation;

restrictions on transfer;

ceiling laws;

land-use conversion;

access and right-of-way;

competing community rights.

An important principle is that revenue records and mutation entries do not necessarily establish title. Consequently, project developers should conduct a title investigation rather than relying exclusively upon revenue records.

This becomes particularly important where renewable projects aggregate hundreds or thousands of parcels.

4. Leasehold Tenure and Long-Term Renewable Projects

Leasing is frequently preferable to outright acquisition because it allows landowners to retain ownership while receiving periodic income.

However, renewable-energy leases raise distinctive legal questions:

Is the lease sufficiently long to cover construction, financing and operation?

Can the lease be assigned to lenders or a project company?

What happens when the project is transferred?

Who bears land-tax and conversion obligations?

What happens after decommissioning?

Is subleasing permitted?

Can the developer create security over leasehold rights?

A lease that is legally valid but terminable at short notice may not provide adequate security to project financiers.

Accordingly, renewable-energy financing often requires bankable tenure arrangements, including clearly defined duration, renewal, termination, assignment and decommissioning provisions.

5. Government and Revenue Land

Government land is particularly important for large solar and wind developments.

A useful illustration is M.P. Power Management Co. Ltd. v. ReNew Clean Energy Pvt. Ltd. (Supreme Court, 2018). The dispute arose from a solar-power procurement process in which the selected developer was unable to obtain the required land. The State subsequently allotted approximately 96.73 acres of revenue land to the Madhya Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Department for further lease to the developer. (API SCI)

The case demonstrates an important practical distinction: winning a renewable-energy procurement process does not automatically confer a right to land. Land availability and the allocation mechanism remain legally distinct matters.

For project developers, therefore, a PPA or tariff award should not automatically be treated as proof of secure project-site tenure.

6. Compulsory Acquisition and Compensation

Where voluntary purchase or leasing is impossible, compulsory acquisition may become relevant.

The principal central framework is the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARR Act), subject to its applicability and the relevant State legislation.

Land acquisition involves more than payment for the title itself. Issues may include:

determination of market value;

compensation;

rehabilitation and resettlement;

livelihood losses;

interests of persons other than formal title-holders;

procedural fairness;

possession;

objections to acquisition.

In Indore Development Authority v. Manoharlal, (2020) 8 SCC 129, the Constitution Bench interpreted Section 24 of the 2013 Act concerning the continuation or lapse of older acquisitions. The judgment illustrates the importance of the legal distinction between possession, payment of compensation and the status of acquisition proceedings. (Indian Kanoon)

A later Supreme Court decision in Sumitraben Singabhai Gamit v. State of Gujarat (2025) reaffirmed that, under the RFCTLARR framework, market value is to be determined with reference to the statutory acquisition notification under Section 11. (LiveLaw)

These principles are relevant to renewable infrastructure whenever land is acquired for generation or associated infrastructure.

7. Article 300A and Property Rights

Although the right to property is no longer a Fundamental Right, Article 300A of the Constitution provides that no person shall be deprived of property except by authority of law.

Therefore, renewable-energy development cannot simply displace a legally protected property interest because the project serves a public or environmental objective.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized the importance of lawful acquisition and compensation. In Kolkata Municipal Corporation v. Bimal Kumar Shah (2024), the Court emphasized that deprivation of property must satisfy constitutional requirements and that compensation is an important component of lawful deprivation. The broader principle is especially significant where infrastructure projects require compulsory acquisition. (API SCI)

8. Forest Land and Renewable Energy

A major tenure problem arises where apparently available land is legally classified or treated as forest.

The leading authority is T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India, (1997) 2 SCC 267. The Supreme Court held that the Forest (Conservation) Act framework applies to forests irrespective of ownership or classification and treated “forest” according to its dictionary meaning for the relevant statutory purpose. (Indian Kanoon)

The Court has subsequently continued to supervise forest protection through the long-running Godavarman proceedings. (Indian Kanoon)

The consequence for renewable-energy developers is significant:

Private ownership does not necessarily eliminate environmental restrictions applicable to forest land.

Thus, a privately held parcel cannot necessarily be treated as unrestricted project land merely because the developer has acquired title.

9. Common and Community Land

Another important issue concerns common land, including grazing land and village commons.

Such land may generate economic value for a community even where individual residents do not possess conventional ownership documents. Renewable projects can therefore create conflicts between:

formal title;

customary use;

grazing rights;

community resources;

government ownership; and

development objectives.

The Supreme Court's jurisprudence concerning village commons recognizes that community resources cannot simply be treated as vacant land available for unrestricted private development.

Consequently, renewable-energy land policy should undertake a social-use assessment, rather than examining only the formal title.

10. Tribal and Customary Tenure

Tribal areas present another layer of complexity. Land may be governed by customary arrangements, special statutory protections and constitutional safeguards.

Relevant considerations can include:

restrictions on transfer of tribal land;

community forest rights;

consent and consultation requirements;

Scheduled Area protections;

Forest Rights Act claims;

rehabilitation;

livelihood dependence.

A project can therefore have a technically valid acquisition document while still generating disputes concerning the rights of persons whose interests are not adequately reflected in formal land records.

This is why renewable-energy planning increasingly requires rights mapping before land aggregation.

11. Transmission Corridors and Easement Rights

Renewable generation frequently occurs far from electricity-demand centres. Transmission infrastructure consequently becomes an essential part of renewable deployment.

Transmission lines may not require acquisition of complete ownership of every parcel. Instead, the legal framework may involve:

right of way;

easement;

compensation for affected land;

restrictions on construction;

tower installation rights;

access for maintenance.

The Supreme Court's Great Indian Bustard litigation illustrates the interaction between renewable-energy infrastructure, transmission corridors and environmental/public-law constraints. In M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India, the Court examined the ecological consequences of overhead transmission lines in Great Indian Bustard habitats and subsequently considered the issue through an expert-committee process. (Indian Kanoon)

The case demonstrates that even where tenure and statutory access rights exist, infrastructure placement may be affected by competing environmental interests.

12. Land-Use Conversion

Land acquired or leased for agriculture may require conversion before it can legally host an industrial or energy project, depending on State law.

This creates another tenure-related risk because the developer may have:

title + possession but no lawful project-use permission.

Therefore, land due diligence must examine both ownership rights and permissible land use.

13. Decommissioning and Restoration

Land tenure does not end when electricity generation stops.

Renewable-energy agreements should address:

removal of panels and turbines;

restoration of soil;

removal of foundations;

disposal of equipment;

restoration of agricultural use;

treatment of contaminated land;

responsibility for abandoned infrastructure.

This is particularly important for long-term leases because the landowner may ultimately receive the land back.

14. Key Case Laws

15. Conclusion

Land tenure is a foundational component of renewable-energy law. The central legal problem is not simply “How can land be obtained?” but rather “How can secure, lawful and socially legitimate rights to use land be established for the entire project lifecycle?”

A robust renewable-energy land framework should therefore combine:

transparent title verification;

secure long-term leases or ownership;

lawful land-use conversion;

fair compensation;

protection of common and community resources;

recognition of tribal and customary rights;

forest and biodiversity safeguards;

transparent government-land allocation;

secure transmission rights of way; and

post-project restoration obligations.

The jurisprudence demonstrates that renewable-energy expansion does not displace ordinary property, land-acquisition or environmental law. Instead, renewable development must operate within those legal frameworks, balancing infrastructure requirements with property security, community interests, ecological protection and constitutional legality.