A research paper entitled The Rentier Economy of Growth Infrastructures: Value Appropriation without Adequate Accumulation in India by Dr Preeti Sampat, Associate Professor, Sociology & Social Anthropology, SIAS has been published in published in Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography.
Paper abstract: This paper draws on long-term research around Dholera smart city in Gujarat; the experience with special economic zones nationally and in Goa; and national data on key accumulation processes such as manufacturing and construction. The analyses reveal three distinct but overlapping moments of rent appropriation around what author terms “growth infrastructures,” the inaugural moment of project announcement; the subsequent moment of land allotments to capital; and the third moment of development, lease, and sale. A key contradiction unfolds as growth infrastructures develop: value appropriation from land rent intensifies, but anticipated accumulation from investments remains elusive.
