The relationship between capital and nature gravitates towards a policy of primary accumulation. This article provides an analysis of the imposition of capitalist property rights over natural resources in India as processes of primary accumulation. These processes are evidenced by the construction of large dams and mines, in addition to the proliferation of free market environmentalism. Moreover, the scope for primary accumulation remains substantial in view of the hydel potential and new circuits of accumulation emerge under the auspices of free market environmentalism. Are the desiderata of ecological sustainability and human development realised under the logic of primary accumulation and a neoliberal commitment to economic growth?