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Why Godda Plant Workers Who Gave Up Land Went on Hunger Strike

Workers at Adani Power’s Godda plant protested outsourced contracts, saying they had surrendered land expecting direct, permanent jobs.
From TheFinanceBase Team2 min to read
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Workers at Adani Power’s Godda thermal plant in Jharkhand went on hunger strike after contracts named an outsourcing firm, Riddhi Corporate Services, as their employer instead of Adani Power. Workers said they had surrendered land for the plant expecting direct, permanent jobs; they objected to the contract arrangement and its listed joining date, May 5, 2023.

Why did the workers protest?

The dispute was about the kind and security of the jobs workers believed they had been promised in connection with land acquisition—not simply whether they had received any compensation. Workers said they had surrendered land for the plant and expected direct, permanent employment with Adani Power. They argued that contracts through an outside company did not meet that expectation.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), summarizing Scroll.in reporting on May 14, 2025, said around 180 workers were affected. It reported that the workers began a hunger strike four days after receiving the contracts by email, protesting near the plant’s main gate. The count is an approximate reported figure, not an independently verified total.

What was in the contracts?

The contracts named Riddhi Corporate Services as the employer and Adani Power as the client. They reportedly bore the date workers received them but listed May 5, 2023, as the workers’ joining date. Workers objected to both the outsourcing arrangement and the employment terms it represented.

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The plant is in Godda district, Jharkhand, and the report says it supplies power to Bangladesh. BHRRC’s excerpt also says construction of the plant affected 841 families; that is a reported figure, not an independently verified count, and it does not mean all those families took part in the strike.

Were the workers promised permanent jobs?

Workers linked their expectations to the land they had surrendered and to assurances they said were made during the acquisition process. One worker, Ragnee Jha, told Scroll.in that local leaders had assured workers they would receive permanent jobs directly under Adani Power. The available reporting does not establish whether that assurance was written into an agreement or other formal document.

Human rights activists alleged that the land acquisition and employment arrangements violated the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. The available material does not show a court or regulator finding that the law was violated. Assessing what workers were legally entitled to would require the relevant contracts, acquisition agreements, rehabilitation plan and any official decision.

What did Adani Power say?

An Adani Power spokesperson said: “Job opportunities and one time settlement has been offered as per Land Acquisition, Land Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 and Jharkhand government’s Rehabilitation & Resettlement Committee’s guidelines and regulations.” The spokesperson also said: “For any open position, first preference is given to locals with matching skills.”

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The company said it had formally communicated the outsourcing change in advance and that employees had been seamlessly accommodated by the new company. These are the company’s statements; the available accounts do not independently establish the details of the communications, the workers’ written entitlements or whether the arrangement fulfilled them.

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What happened after the strike began?

Scroll.in’s indexed excerpt says workers accepted jobs with Riddhi on April 24. The excerpt does not make clear the year in that sentence. Acceptance of those jobs does not by itself establish that workers’ concerns about direct employment, job security or land-related commitments were resolved. The available reporting does not establish the dispute’s longer-term outcome.

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