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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4384
TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2026
Assessment of forest area
4384. SHRI SANT BALBIR SINGH:
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to
state:
(a) whether Government publishes any official report that provides data on the percentage
of land under forest cover for India and for individual States;
(b) if so, the details of the latest report such as the India State of Forest Report, including
the percentage of forest cover and tree cover at national and State levels; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor and whether there is any proposal to establish comprehensive
monitoring framework for the same?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)
(a) to (c) Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change, carries out the assessment of forest and
tree cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in the India State
of Forest Report (ISFR). The forest cover assessment is a wall-to-wall mapping
exercise based on remote sensing supported by intensive ground verification and
field data from the National Forest Inventory and is published at national and State
levels.
As per ISFR 2023, the forest and tree cover of the country is 8,27,357 square
kilometer which is 25.17% of the total geographical area of the country.The
State/UT wise details of forest and tree cover in the country is given in Annexure.
******Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply of (b) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4384 due for
answer on 02.04.2026 regarding ‘Assessment of forest area’ asked by Shri Sant Balbir
Singh:
State/UT wise forest and tree cover as per ISFR 2023
(Area in Square kilometre)
Percentage of
Geographical Forest and Tree
S.No. State /UT forest and tree
Area (GA) Cover
cover
1 Andhra Pradesh 1,62,922.57 35,424.98 21.74
2 Arunachal Pradesh 83,743.22 67,083.20 80.11
3 Assam 78,438.00 30,415.01 38.78
4 Bihar 94,163.00 9,902.66 10.52
5 Chhattisgarh 1,35,192.00 62,350.45 46.12
6 Delhi 1,483.00 371.31 25.04
7 Goa 3,702.00 2,523.54 68.17
8 Gujarat 1,96,244.00 21,648.93 11.03
9 Haryana 44,212.00 3,307.28 7.48
10 Himachal Pradesh 55,673.00 16,435.42 29.52
11 Jharkhand 79,716.00 27,403.33 34.38
12 Karnataka 1,91,791.00 47,033.42 24.52
13 Kerala 38,852.00 24,965.30 64.26
14 Madhya Pradesh 3,08,252.11 85,723.58 27.81
15 Maharashtra 3,07,713.00 65,383.41 21.25
16 Manipur 22,327.00 16,795.28 75.22
17 Meghalaya 22,429.00 17,687.40 78.86
18 Mizoram 21,081.00 18,558.26 88.03
19 Nagaland 16,579.00 12,616.49 76.10
20 Odisha 1,55,707.00 58,597.01 37.63
21 Punjab 50,362.00 3,321.24 6.59
22 Rajasthan 3,42,238.99 27,389.33 8.00
23 Sikkim 7,096.00 3,406.73 48.01
24 Tamil Nadu 1,30,060.00 31,820.94 24.47
25 Telangana 1,12,122.44 24,696.70 22.03
26 Tripura 10,486.00 7,832.33 74.69
27 Uttar Pradesh 2,40,927.56 23,996.72 9.96
28 Uttarakhand 53,483.36 25,534.97 47.74
29 West Bengal 88,752.00 19,770.45 22.28
30 A & N Islands 8,249.00 6,759.89 81.95
31 Chandigarh 114.00 46.18 40.51
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 262.45 43.60
32 602.00
and Daman & Diu
33 Jammu & Kashmir 25,013.36 12.69
34 Ladakh
2,22,236.00
3,178.94
35 Lakshadweep 29.63 27.26 92.00
36 Puducherry 490.00 73.20 14.94
Total 32,87,468.88 8,27,356.95 25.17