CAG finds 98% shortfall in Green India Mission forest cover targets, red-flags multiple lapses
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audited implementation of the National Mission for a Green India (Green India Mission, GIM) and found the scheme's forest and tree cover expansion target had fallen short by around 98 percent over roughly a decade of implementation
The audit flagged weaknesses in planning, including poor site selection and inadequate baseline surveys before afforestation was taken up
Financial oversight lapses were identified, including gaps between funds released and utilisation reported by implementing states
The audit noted that ecologically vulnerable and degraded forest areas, which the mission was meant to prioritise, were often bypassed in favour of easier, already-forested or non-critical patches
The findings raise questions about the mission's contribution to India's climate mitigation commitments, since GIM-based afforestation is central to India's carbon sink pledges
National Mission for a Green India (GIM)
GIM is one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), announced in 2008 and given Cabinet approval in February 2014, with implementation beginning in 2015-16. It aims to protect, restore and enhance India's forest and tree cover as a response to climate change, combining adaptation and mitigation objectives through ecosystem-based interventions.
Key Details
- Original target: increase forest/tree cover on 5 million hectares of forest and non-forest land, and improve the quality of forest cover on another 5 million hectares (10 million hectares total)
- Implementing ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), through State Forest Departments
- One of the eight NAPCC missions, alongside the National Solar Mission, National Water Mission, National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture, and others
- A revised roadmap for GIM has since re-cast implementation over the 2021-2030 period, aligning with India's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target of creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2030
The CAG audit's ~98% shortfall finding relates directly to GIM's core forest/tree cover expansion target, indicating that a decade into the mission, actual on-ground achievement remains a small fraction of what was committed.
CAG's Role in Auditing Environmental Schemes
The Comptroller and Auditor General is a constitutional authority under Article 148, mandated to audit the receipts and expenditure of the Union and state governments, including centrally sponsored schemes like GIM. Performance audits of environmental and forestry schemes examine both financial propriety and whether physical targets (hectares afforested, funds utilised) were achieved.
Key Details
- Article 148: provides for appointment of the CAG by the President; tenure of 6 years or until age 65, whichever is earlier
- Article 149: CAG's duties and powers are prescribed by Parliament — the CAG's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971
- Article 151: CAG's reports on Union accounts are submitted to the President, who causes them to be laid before Parliament (state reports go to the Governor, laid before the state legislature)
- CAG reports are examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, which does not have executive power but can recommend corrective action
The CAG's audit function is what surfaced the gap between GIM's stated targets and actual achievement; the report will typically be tabled in Parliament and examined by the PAC, giving Parliament oversight over the scheme's implementation.
Compensatory Afforestation and Related Forestry Funding
GIM afforestation is often confused with, but distinct from, compensatory afforestation carried out under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 (CAF Act), which mandates afforestation to offset forest land diverted for non-forest use. Previous CAG audits have separately flagged large shortfalls (50-66% in various states) in compensatory afforestation achievement, showing a recurring pattern of implementation gaps in India's forestry programmes.
Key Details
- CAF Act, 2016 established the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund and State CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) funds
- Funds are collected from project developers who divert forest land under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and are meant to be used for afforestation equal to or exceeding the diverted area
- Past CAG findings (unrelated to this audit) found shortfalls of 50.65% in Karnataka and 66% in Himachal Pradesh in compensatory afforestation execution during earlier assessment periods
- India's forest and tree cover, as per the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) published biennially by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), is used as the baseline against which such mission targets are measured
The GIM shortfall sits within a broader, repeatedly-audited pattern of India's afforestation schemes under-delivering against sanctioned targets, whether funded through the Union Budget (GIM) or through diversion-linked compensatory funds (CAMPA).
- Green India Mission: announced 2008 under NAPCC, Cabinet-approved February 2014, implementation began 2015-16
- Original combined target: 10 million hectares (5 million hectares new/improved cover + 5 million hectares quality improvement)
- CAG-flagged shortfall in forest cover targets: approximately 98% over the audit period
- CAG constitutional basis: Articles 148-151 of the Constitution of India
- CAG reports are examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament
- India's NDC (2022 update) commits to an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2030