Hindustan Powerprojects, formerly known as Moser Baer, proposed the 2,520 MW Moser Baer Thermal Power Project in Laharpur Murra, Guwari, Belia, and Jethari villages of Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh. Around 36% of the population in these villages belongs to the Scheduled Tribes, while nearly 10% of the project area comprises forestland, requiring forest clearance before any diversion.
The project involved the diversion of approximately 37.875 hectares of forestland as part of a larger land acquisition for the plant and associated infrastructure.
According to affected villagers and activists, this diversion was allegedly not disclosed either during the public hearing or in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports prepared for obtaining environmental clearance.
On 4 June 2010, the Chief Conservator of Forests, Bhopal, issued Moser Baer a list of environmental conditions, based on which a provisional agreement permitting the use of 37.875 hectares of forestland was granted. However, according to villagers, the company failed to comply with any of the stipulated conditions. They also alleged that village-level meetings were never organised to discuss compensation and rehabilitation, that land was acquired from them at throwaway prices, and that many affected families did not receive compensation. Those who did were reportedly offered compensation as low as ₹16 per square metre. Concerns over the acquisition process intensified in 2012, when the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) wrote to then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, alleging several irregularities.

The letter claimed that mandatory clearances under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and the Forest Rights Act, 2006, had not been obtained. It also alleged irregularities in the grant of environmental clearance and non-compliance with the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA). As deliberations on a new land acquisition law were underway nationally, affected villagers demanded that their land be acquired under what later became the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides stronger safeguards relating to compensation and rehabilitation.
Villagers opposed the project, arguing that Anuppur is a water-scarce region and that a thermal power plant of this scale would adversely affect water availability and local livelihoods. During the protests, villagers alleged that police registered criminal cases against several protesters. During protests in 2012, police opened fire on demonstrators in the project area, killing one person and injuring 27, and registered criminal cases against several villagers.

In 2014, petitioner Bindu Rathore challenged the land acquisition proceedings carried out under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, before the District Court in Anuppur, seeking enhanced compensation. The Reference Court subsequently enhanced the compensation payable to the petitioner. Hindustan Power (formerly Moser Baer) challenged the enhanced compensation before the Madhya Pradesh High Court in First Appeal No. 818 of 2016, where the dispute relating to compensation remains pending.

The thermal power plant was declared commercially operational in 2018. According to the Environmental Impact Assessment report, the project was expected to displace 290 families. However, affected villagers alleged that rehabilitation and resettlement for these families had still not been completed. When Land Conflict Watch spoke to Rajkumar Sinha of the National Alliance of People's Movements on 11 October 2019, he said the movement had weakened because of the government's unwillingness to address the demands of the affected communities.

The project underwent a major ownership change in October 2024, when Adani Power Limited acquired the Anuppur thermal power project company from Hindustan Power/Moser Baer. Despite the change in ownership, long-standing issues relating to land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation, and compliance with the Forest Rights Act and PESA remained unresolved. In May 2025, villagers again protested after land‑levelling and preparatory work reportedly began for the project’s proposed 800 MW expansion. Farmers attempted to reclaim and cultivate portions of the acquired land, and resistance by local communities temporarily halted some construction activity.
Farmers attempted to reclaim and cultivate portions of the acquired land, and resistance by local communities temporarily halted some construction activity.

On 18 July 2025, Land Conflict Watch spoke to Santosh Agarwal, State President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, who highlighted that Anuppur is predominantly a Schedule V district with a large Adivasi population. He said, "None of the government's promises related to jobs and rehabilitation have been fulfilled. The villagers continue to live beside the thermal plant on whatever land they have left. The struggle has now become inactive after years of police clampdown and suppression.
On 3 August 2025, media reports documented renewed demands by affected villagers to renegotiate the original land acquisition, citing unfulfilled promises relating to employment and rehabilitation, inadequate compensation, and the alleged illegal acquisition of land.

Shortly thereafter, on 30 August 2025, Adani Power received a Letter of Award from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for establishing an additional 800 MW ultra-supercritical unit at the Anuppur thermal power project. The award indicated that expansion plans were moving forward even as the long-standing grievances of Adivasi and farming communities regarding land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation, compliance with the Forest Rights Act and PESA, and implementation of earlier promises remained unresolved.