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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 703
TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2026
Diversion of forest-land
703. SHRI SANJAY SINGH:
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to
state:
(a) the area of forest land diverted for non-forestry purposes in the country during the last
five years, State-wise;
(b) the forest land approved for diversion between 1st April, 2021 and 31st March, 2025,
year-wise and State-wise;
(c) the details of such diversions purpose-wise, including infrastructure, mining, power,
irrigation, roads, railways, defence and industrial projects; and
(d) the number of proposals approved, rejected and pending during the above period?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)
(a) to (d) During last five financial years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, an area of 97,050.30
hectares of forest land has been diverted for non-forestry purposes under the Van (Sanrakshan
Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980. The State wise and year wise detail for the forest area
diverted is enclosed at Annexure-I. The category wise detail of approvals granted for
diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes and the proposals rejected under Van
(Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 is enclosed at Annexure-II and
Annexure-III, respectively.
The process of grant of approval under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam,
1980 is a continuous one. The Central Government, following the prescribed statutory approval
process, takes prompt decisions on proposals that are complete in all respects.
*****Annexure-I
Annexure referred to in the reply of part (a) of the Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 703 asked by Shri Sanjay Singh regarding Diversion of
forest land
Statement Showing State wise / Year wise area approved (in Ha.) for use of forest land for non-forestry purpose under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam
Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980
Category :- All Category During the last 5 years ( Period 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2025) Grand Total
S.
State / UTs 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025
No.
1 Andaman and Nicobar 0 100.00 0.00 2.98 1.16 104.14
2 Andhra Pradesh 782.28 302.96 162.28 149.51 405.87 1802.91
3 Arunachal Pradesh 95.366 1669.60 1105.53 1296.45 2489.90 6656.84
4 Assam 1157.353 133.43 45.42 363.00 180.40 1879.59
5 Bihar 481.813 145.08 467.88 10.47 7.88 1113.12
6 Chandigarh 0.0468 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.24 0.34
7 Chhattisgarh 209.098 1474.97 476.45 1069.26 1071.32 4301.11
8 Dadra and Nagar Haveli And Daman And Diu 1.1525 2.56 0.00 37.97 12.84 54.52
9 Delhi 0 21.75 63.30 31.87 1.67 118.59
10 Goa 97.65 3.81 178.19 0.81 0.11 280.56
11 Gujarat 1891.104 1714.47 1474.30 537.19 1233.05 6850.11
12 Haryana 363.6131 571.92 127.97 225.60 109.59 1398.69
13 Himachal Pradesh 323.1387 455.86 650.29 214.63 109.05 1752.97
14 Jammu and Kashmir 1.2 262.93 186.51 126.65 292.09 869.39
15 Jharkhand 413.6654 771.58 879.36 1334.84 1446.12 4845.57
16 Karnataka 299.7777 94.75 661.17 392.37 237.09 1685.16
17 Kerala 1.198 3.90 137.19 13.06 20.80 176.15
18 Ladakh 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.94 0.94
19 Madhya Pradesh 6352.905 3492.01 2045.71 9219.70 3236.63 24346.96
20 Maharashtra 113.1021 586.93 822.68 1007.11 1186.91 3716.72
21 Manipur 0 242.13 337.12 937.20 203.67 1720.11
22 Meghalaya 6.55 0.00 27.39 0.02 6.05 40.01
23 Mizoram 0 178.86 150.05 85.53 19.55 433.99
24 Odisha 1842.858 1002.13 2748.43 3939.93 3342.59 12875.94
25 Punjab 361.058 742.20 374.81 150.52 332.77 1961.36
26 Rajasthan 151.4158 410.89 1096.92 1699.20 973.05 4331.48
27 Sikkim 0 20.20 104.67 87.69 295.32 507.8728 Tamil Nadu 11.10365 17.59 46.65 23.36 10.61 109.32
29 Telangana 628.0011 209.99 181.51 239.81 39.55 1298.86
30 Tripura 348.0404 248.33 254.42 36.19 203.04 1090.01
31 Uttar Pradesh 1086.707 1701.08 1124.36 2232.82 422.18 6567.14
32 Uttarakhand 1156.894 519.66 1183.55 301.96 360.11 3522.17
33 West Bengal 137.1353 87.53 267.78 130.81 14.41 637.66
Grand Total 18314.23 17189.14 17381.88 25898.48 18266.57 97050.30
Source : https://parivesh.nic.inAnnexure-II
Annexure referred to in the reply of part (a) to (d) of the Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No.
703 asked by Shri Sanjay Singh regarding Diversion of forest land
Purpose wise detail forest area diverted for non-forestry purpose under the Van
(Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980
All Stat /UT During the Period 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2025
S. Area Approved
Category
No. (in hectares)
1. Airport 0.09
2. Canal 80.42
3. Communication Post 14.03
4. Defence 6041.96
5. Dispensary/Hospital 30.76
6. Drinking Water 1281.29
7. Encroachments 8.38
8. Forest Village Conversion 1362.71
9. Hydel / Irrigation 17434.38
10. Industry 150.68
11. Mining / Quarrying 18913.64
12. Non-Conventional Source of Energy 6.92
13. Optical Fibre Cable 391.13
14. Others 4422.66
15. Petrol Pump 1926.86
16. Pipeline 669.38
Police Establishment like police stations / outposts /
17. border outposts / towers in sensitive areas (identified 1.73
by MHA)
18. Power Sub Station 40.60
19. Power Transmission Line 13859.31
20. Railway 5957.68
21. Rehabilitation 1508.55
22. Road 22233.44
23. School / Educational Institution 85.73
24. Solar Power 1.57
25. Sub Station 82.58
26. Telecommunication Line 0.59
27. Thermal 39.05
28. Village Electricity 503.27
29. Water / Rainwater Harvesting Structure 0.61
30. Wind Power 0.30
Grand Total 97050.30
Source : https://parivesh.nic.inAnnexure-III
Annexure referred to in the reply of part (a) to (d) of the Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No.
703 asked by Shri Sanjay Singh regarding Diversion of forest land
State wise detail of proposals approved for use of land non-forestry purpose and rejected
under the under Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980
Category : All Categories During the Period 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2025
S. No. of Proposals
STATE/UT No. of Proposals approved
No. Rejected
1 Andaman and Nicobar 26 0
2 Andhra Pradesh 80 1
3 Arunachal Pradesh 118 4
4 Assam 47 1
5 Bihar 293 0
6 Chandigarh 4 0
7 Chhattisgarh 74 1
Dadra and Nagar Haveli And Daman
8 33 2
And Diu
9 Delhi 14 2
10 Goa 26 0
11 Gujarat 1560 8
12 Haryana 1424 1
13 Himachal Pradesh 298 5
14 Jammu and Kashmir 554 0
15 Jharkhand 100 3
16 Karnataka 259 15
17 Kerala 129 4
18 Ladakh 2 0
19 Madhya Pradesh 902 6
20 Maharashtra 320 6
21 Manipur 40 0
22 Meghalaya 13 0
23 Mizoram 21 0
24 Odisha 167 5
25 Punjab 1067 1
26 Rajasthan 315 10
27 Sikkim 67 7
28 Tamil Nadu 107 1
29 Telangana 136 11
30 Tripura 102 0
31 Uttar Pradesh 1188 0
32 Uttarakhand 478 23
33 West Bengal 62 3
Grand Total 10026 120
Source : https://parivesh.nic.in