Energy Justice in Transition: Perceptions From India's Coal‐Dependent Regions

ABSTRACT Climate change has emerged as a critical barrier to economic development, prompting a global shift toward low‐carbon energy systems. For India, whose economy remains heavily reliant on coal, this transition entails complex socioeconomic and institutional challenges related to energy security, livelihoods, and regional dependence. This study assesses India's readiness for a just energy transition by engaging purposively selected respondents from government, research, and civil society sectors. Employing a justice framework that encompasses distributional, recognition, and procedural dimensions, a thematic‐analytical approach is used to examine the challenges, opportunities, and impacts shaping India's coal transition. The findings indicate that concerns of distributional justice, particularly the invisibility of informal labor and regional economic dependency, dominate stakeholder perceptions but are closely intertwined with recognition and procedural deficits. Weak procedural inclusion and limited recognition of informal actors reinforce inequities in benefit distribution, highlighting institutional barriers within India's transition architecture. Simultaneously, emerging opportunities through technological innovation, green finance, and inclusive governance hold potential to enhance fairness and resilience, provided they are effectively institutionalized. This study contributes to Global South energy justice debates by offering an analytical understanding of how informality and institutional inertia shape transition outcomes. It underscores that embedding justice principles within governance and policy frameworks through coordination, participatory mechanisms, and targeted inclusion of informal workers is essential for achieving an equitable and sustainable low‐carbon future.