India approves 71,000 hectares of forest land for non‑forest development projects

The Indian government disclosed that between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2026 a total of 71,023.30 ha of forest land were approved for non‑forest uses such as roads, railways, mining, power transmission, irrigation and defence projects. The largest diversion was in Madhya Pradesh, where 19,432.14 ha were allocated, followed by Uttar Pradesh (8,965.71 ha), Arunachal Pradesh (7,334.87 ha), Jharkhand (5,409.56 ha) and Chhattisgarh (4,218.95 ha). Sector‑wise approvals included mining (16,463.28 ha), hydro‑irrigation (14,294.41 ha), road construction (12,714.93 ha), power lines (7,711.55 ha), defence (6,276.01 ha) and rail (3,887.71 ha).

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change said compensatory afforestation of 178,261.52 ha had been carried out in the past five years, with tree‑survival rates ranging from 40 % to 100 % across states. Forest coverage is periodically assessed by the Forest Survey of India using satellite imagery and ground surveys, and the data are classified into dense, moderate and open forest categories.