Forest cover targets in India shortfall nearly 98 per cent

New Delhi:-The Green India Mission has fallen significantly short of its targets for increasing forest cover and improving the quality of forest and non-forest lands, according to a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) tabled in Parliament.

The report said that against the target of increasing forest and tree cover by 1.4 million hectares during the period from 2015-16 to 2024-25, an increase of only 0.03 million hectares was recorded. This represents a shortfall of 97.57 per cent against the target.

The Green India Mission, one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, was launched in 2014. The mission seeks to increase forest and tree cover, improve the quality of existing forests and degraded lands, enhance ecosystem services and biodiversity, and strengthen the livelihoods of communities dependent on forests.

The CAG audit also highlighted a substantial gap in the mission’s objective of improving the quality of forest cover. Against the target of 1.4 million hectares for improvement in forest cover quality during the same period, improvement was observed in only 0.11 million hectares. This amounts to a 91.87 per cent shortfall from the target.

Releasing the performance audit report on the Mission, CAG highlighted the wrong choice of landscape for planting trees, absence of convergence of various schemes to increase green cover, financial mismanagement, improper planning, lack of coordination and deficient monitoring behind non-achievement of the GIM’s goals.

The performance audit examined the planning, implementation and monitoring of the GIM interventions in 16 states and UTs for which physical and financial targets were approved by the environment ministry during the period 2015-16 to 2024-25.

Pointing out deficient monitoring, the CAG noted that 14 states even failed to provide required public web links for transparency. It flagged that audit evaluations revealed inflated data and overstated achievements, and GIS analysis showed that 70% of sampled sites had no noticeable changes attributable to GIM

The findings indicate that the implementation of the Green India Mission has not progressed at the pace originally envisaged. The limited increase in forest and tree cover, as well as the considerable gap in improving forest quality, raises questions about the effectiveness of planning, implementation and monitoring mechanisms under the mission.

The Green India Mission was intended to contribute to India’s broader climate and environmental goals by enhancing carbon sequestration, conserving biodiversity, restoring degraded ecosystems and improving the resilience of forests to climate change.

The CAG’s observations underline the need for stronger implementation, better monitoring of targets and more effective utilisation of resources to ensure that the objectives of the mission translate into measurable improvements on the ground.

The report also brings into focus the importance of strengthening coordination among central and state agencies involved in afforestation, forest restoration and ecosystem management, particularly as India seeks to expand its green cover and meet its long-term environmental and climate commitments.