July 28, 2025: India raised compensatory afforestation over 1,78,261 hectares of land against a target of 2,09,297 hectares between 2019-20 and 2023-24, achieving 85 per cent of the planned area, the Supreme Court-mandated Central Empowered Committee has said in a report.
The report, filed earlier this month, revealed that utilisation of funds under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) varies sharply across states.
According to it, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh recorded full achievement of their targets.
Madhya Pradesh planted 21,746.82 hectares, fully achieving its target of 21,107.68 hectares, while Karnataka also met nearly its entire target, covering 2,761.26 hectares against 2,775.12 hectares.
With a planting rate of 96.6 percent, Arunachal Pradesh planted 20,719.46 hectares compared to 21,478.03 hectares. Planting 5,877.16 hectares out of a total of 6,096.7 hectares, Uttar Pradesh achieved 96.4 percent. With 93.8 percent, Assam covered 1,149.64 hectares compared to 1,191.82 hectares. Sikkim planted 609.52 hectares, achieving 92.3 per cent, while Punjab achieved 4,019.72 hectares against 4,471.94 hectares, about 89.9 per cent, according to the report.
Meghalaya, on the other hand, had one of the lowest coverage rates, attaining only 114.56 hectares against a goal of 514.76 hectares, or 22.3%. Manipur planted 666.94 hectares against 1,759.84 hectares, achieving 37.9 per cent.
Kerala covered 171.80 hectares against 433.06 hectares, achieving 39.7 per cent. West Bengal achieved only 748.25 hectares against 1,911.74 hectares, about 39.2 per cent.
In comparison to the 262.39 hectares planted, Tamil Nadu achieved 32.3%. Andhra Pradesh reported 3,471.88 hectares against 8,663.46 hectares, covering only 40.1 per cent.
The survival percentage of plantations varied significantly, with Arunachal Pradesh and Assam reporting 40-75 per cent and 45-90 per cent of survival rate, respectively.
The survival rates in Kerala, Manipur, and Meghalaya ranged from 45 to 74%, 55 to 76%, and 40% to 70%, respectively. The survival rates for Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, and 69-80 percent, 60-80 percent, 54-60 percent, 60-66 percent, and 78-98 percent, respectively, were reported. The report also looked at how CAMPA funds were used during this time. Between 2019-20 and 2023-2024, the National CAMPA approved Rs 38,516 crore for state annual plans. States released Rs 29,311 crore to their forest departments, of which Rs 26,001 crore was utilised. This indicates that only 67.5% of the approved expenditure was utilized. There was a wide range of utilization, with Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh each utilizing 100%, 100%, and 97.8% of the funds provided to them, respectively. Mizoram reported utilisation above 91 per cent, Sikkim 97.7 per cent, Karnataka 96.6 per cent and Odisha 87.9 per cent. Chhattisgarh recorded 95 per cent utilisation of the funds released, and Gujarat spent more than it released, utilising 116 per cent due to carryover balances.
A few states were behind. Only 67.9% of the funds released were used by Tamil Nadu, while Jammu and Kashmir spent 62.5 percent. With 57.4%, Haryana also performed poorly. West Bengal spent 81.1 per cent and Delhi just 26.9 per cent, the lowest among all states.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands used 53.1% of the funds released, while Telangana used 60.4% of the funds. According to the CEC, seasonal forestry operations are impacted by "delays in submission of annual plans by states, late release of funds, and the lack of dedicated CAMPA offices." Monitoring of survival rates remains weak, and multiple layers in the fund release process contribute to underutilisation, it said.
Despite these flaws, it stated that progress under the statutory framework has been "significant" in light of the initial challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. The report warns that the CAMPA mechanism's very purpose is being undermined by gaps in plantation survival and underutilization of funds, as thousands of hectares of natural forests are destroyed annually by development projects. The compensatory afforestation regime originated from a series of orders in the landmark TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India case of 1995.
In these orders, the Supreme Court said that user agencies must pay for the loss caused by afforestation on non-forest land or degraded forest land when forest land is used for other things. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act of 2016 was enacted by Parliament to formalize and regulate the management of these funds. The National and State CAMPAs were established by the Act to oversee the funds collected from user agencies. The guidelines for how these funds should be used can be found in the 2018 CAF Rules. According to the Act and Rules, the money that is given to states and union territories can only be used for afforestation, the regrowth of degraded forests, the protection of wildlife, and other activities aimed at restoring the environment.