Executive Summary:
The document is a statement in response to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 301 regarding the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme, answered on August 11, 2025. It details the implementation, funding, outcomes, pending proposals, and plans for the scheme, which aims to conserve wildlife and their habitats. The scheme operates on a cost-sharing basis with States and Union Territories.
Key Points / Main Content:
Scheme Overview:
* Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats is a centrally sponsored umbrella scheme.
* Sub-schemes include Development of Wildlife Habitats and Project Tiger Elephant.
* Financial assistance supports conservation, protection, and management of wildlife and habitats.
* The scheme also supports eco-development activities with communities and mitigates human-wildlife conflict.
Activities Supported:
* Management planning
* Strengthening research and awareness
* Anti-poaching measures
* Strengthening of protection infrastructure
* Habitat improvement
* Eco-development
* Management of human-wildlife conflict
* Capacity building
Measurable Outcomes:
* Increase in Protected Areas (PAs) from 745 in 2014 to 1134 in February 2025.
* Increase of 18,324.54 sq. km in area under Protected Area network in the last decade.
* Increase in Community Reserves from 48 in 2014 to 309 in 2025.
* Increase in Tiger Reserves from 48 in 2014 to 58 in 2025.
* Increase in Elephant Reserves from 31 to 33 in the last decade.
* Support for focused species conservation programs for twenty-four species.
* Management effectiveness evaluation for National Parks, Sanctuaries, Tiger Reserves, and Elephant Reserves.
Financial Assistance:
* Financial assistance is provided to States and Union Territories on a cost-sharing basis.
* Details of financial assistance provided are in Annexure I (Development of Wildlife Habitats) and Annexure II (Project Tiger Elephant).
* Annual plans of operations received from States/UTs are examined and sanctioned.
Protected Areas:
* The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, empowers State Governments and Union Territories to notify Protected Areas.
Project Tiger Elephant:
* Project Tiger has been merged with Project Elephant under Centrally Sponsored Scheme and named Project Tiger Elephant (PTE) from 2023-2024.
Impact Analysis:
State Governments and Union Territory Administrations:
* Impact: Responsible for submitting annual plans of operations for financial assistance and for notification of Protected Areas under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
* Action Required: Submit annual plans of operations to receive financial assistance; implement activities related to wildlife conservation, habitat improvement, and community participation.
Communities:
* Impact: Involvement in eco-development activities and mitigation of human-wildlife conflict.
* Action Required: Participate in eco-development activities and support wildlife conservation efforts.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change:
* Impact: Responsible for administering the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme, providing financial assistance, and overseeing the conservation and protection of wildlife habitats.
* Action Required: Examine and sanction annual plans of operations received from States/UTs and monitor the progress and outcomes of the scheme.
Key Entities Referenced
Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme: A centrally sponsored umbrella scheme for conservation, protection, and management of wildlife and its habitat.
Project Tiger: A sub-scheme under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme focused on tiger conservation.
Project Elephant: A sub-scheme under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme focused on elephant conservation.
Andhra Pradesh: A state in India, from which proposals are pending under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme.
Wild life Protection Act, 1972: An act that empowers State Governments and Union Territories Administration for notification of Protected Areas.
Lok Sabha: The lower house of the Parliament of India, where the starred question regarding the scheme was raised.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change: The Indian government ministry responsible for the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme.
Union Territory Administrations: The governing bodies of Union Territories in India, which receive financial assistance under the scheme.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 301
TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2025
Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme
301*. DR. BYREDDY SHABARI:
SHRI APPALANAIDU KALISETTI:
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased
to state:
(a) the number of projects implemented under the Integrated Development of Wildlife
Habitats Scheme, State-wise;
(b) the total funds allocated, released and utilised thereunder during the last five years
and the current year, component-wise;
(c) the measurable outcomes achieved in terms of wildlife conservation, habitat
improvement and community participation;
(d) the details of proposals currently pending from various States, including Andhra
Pradesh, under the Scheme along with the reasons for delay, if any; and
(e) whether the Government has any plans to expand or strengthen the scheme and if so,
the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)
(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
*****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) OF THE LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. *301 REGARDING ‘INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT
OF WILDLIFE HABITATS SCHEME’ BY DR. BYREDDY SHABARI & SHRI
APPALANAIDU KALISETTI FOR REPLY ON 11.08.2025
(a) to. (e) ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’ is a Centrally sponsored umbrella
scheme with sub schemes namely ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats’ and
‘Project Tiger & Elephant’ under which financial assistance is provided for
conservation, protection and management of wildlife and its habitat. The scheme
also supports the eco development activities with communities and mitigating
human-wildlife negative interface. Financial assistance is provided on a cost
sharing basis, and as per the annual plan of operations received from the State
Governments and Union Territory Administrations.
Under the scheme activities like management planning, strengthening research
and awareness, anti-poaching measures, strengthening of protection
infrastructure, habitat improvement, eco development, management of human
wildlife conflict, capacity building etc. are supported. The details of financial
assistance provided to States and Union Territories, including State of Andhra
Pradesh during the last five years and current year under the ‘Development of
Wildlife Habitats’ and ‘Project Tiger & Elephant’ schemes are placed as
Annexure-I and Annexure –II.
The Wild life (Protection) Act, 1972 empowers the State Governments and Union
Territories Administration for notification of Protected Areas. The financial
assistance has been provided to States and Union Territories under the scheme
and the number of Protected Areas (PAs) in the country has increased from 745
in 2014 to 1134 in February 2025. There has been an increase of 18,324.54 sq.km
area under Protected Area network in the country during the last decade. Under
the Protected area network the number of Community Reserves has increased
from 48 in 2014 to 309 in 2025.
The number of Tiger Reserves have increased from 48 in 2014 to 58 in the 2025.
Similarly, the number of Elephant Reserves have also increased in last decade
from 31 to 33.
Focused species conservation programme for twenty four species such as snow
leopard, dugong, dolphin, bustard, gharial etc have been supported under the
Development of Wildlife Habitats scheme. Management effectiveness evaluation
for the National Parks, Sanctuaries, Tiger Reserves and Elephant Reserves have
been conducted.
The Annual plan of operations received from States/ UTs are duly examined and
sanctioned from time to time.
*****Annexure-I
Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question
No. *301 due for reply on 11.08.2025 regarding “Integrated Development of Wildlife
Habitats Scheme”
Details of funds released to State Governments and UT Administrations during last Five years
and Current Financial Year under the ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats’ sub-scheme of
‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’:
(Rs in lakhs)
2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund Fund
State/UT
Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released
A& N
0.00 0.00 271.55 135.77 100.50 25.13 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Islands
Andhra
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Pradesh
Arunachal
719.73 312.59 1116.78 419.81 1228.63 276.44 1494.36 672.46 1547.88 1044.82 1669.49 751.27*
Pradesh
Assam 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1076.31 209.15 2564.24 565.11 2743.26 1234.47 3235.28 716.30*
Bihar 973.49 205.16 761.69 410.86 0.00 0.00 2242.48 336.37 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Chandigarh 50.36 25.16 0.00 0.00 86.50 21.62 65.98 16.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Chhattisgarh 458.91 104.36 657.35 274.59 857.97 104.46 1254.90 116.25 1273.85 135.58 0.00 0.00
Goa 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 334.00 50.10 455.10 66.44 0.00 0.00
Gujarat 727.32 124.58 0.00 0.00 1333.40 200.01 1383.00 206.99 6006.91 801.58 0.00 0.00
Haryana 265.00 18.22 412.92 127.33 677.19 30.16 559.50 167.85 776.74 232.97 728.03 109.20
Himachal
248.43 187.64 307.03 197.09 351.69 114.32 418.46 94.15 765.83 172.31 0.00 0.00
Pradesh
Jammu &
517.63 80.63 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 930.18 69.58 791.72 73.97 0.00 0.00
Kashmir
Jharkhand 669.02 198.23 380.87 79.53 0.00 0.00 437.98 14.91 493.50 71.94 0.00 0.00
Karnataka 2435.16 586.13 2888.06 1256.59 2645.50 291.71 4508.22 581.52 1069.58 800.82 0.00 0.00
Kerala 1480.02 731.28 2036.54 295.77 2102.89 224.47 2463.57 921.04 2374.66 909.64 0.00 0.00
Madhya
1694.69 801.60 1967.04 389.35 2295.57 265.55 3393.26 471.82 3388.18 740.89 0.00 0.00
Pradesh
Maharashtra 1403.45 146.08 0.00 0.00 2521.85 350.39 3953.70 554.70 5049.65 622.07 0.00 0.00
Manipur 535.82 241.12 633.41 142.51 802.86 180.64 1029.88 231.72 1163.14 261.71 0.00 0.00
Meghalaya 585.57 263.50 785.64 530.51 0.00 0.00 1221.56 243.57 1799.71 389.59 0.00 0.00
Mizoram 754.02 339.61 884.30 198.97 845.32 190.20 1530.34 304.21 1530.34 344.33 1198.75 262.72
Nagaland 577.79 260.00 760.07 342.03 1612.57 725.66 1935.30 1306.33 2658.16 1490.04 0.00 0.00
Odisha 1026.72 694.19 1794.99 726.80 2280.09 967.50 3012.77 1005.09 3012.77 1108.46 3072.19 457.73
Rajasthan 2475.72 309.13 2533.91 1007.65 1205.05 86.79 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3305.65 488.36*
Sikkim 388.07 349.62 693.10 182.97 669.30 239.66 894.47 187.03 985.20 221.17 1200.07 540.03*
Tamil Nadu 870.95 334.04 879.64 390.76 1104.13 132.95 2412.07 373.89 4411.98 661.79 0.00 0.00
Telangana 113.46 36.59 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00Uttar Pradesh 1190.30 312.92 1243.31 169.06 1543.72 266.75 1941.08 290.64 2626.26 393.87 2596.75 398.51
Uttarakhand 931.39 441.61 1123.53 226.34 1123.53 212.97 1884.92 498.50 1884.92 652.47 0.00 0.00
West Bengal 2227.01 710.62 2387.67 757.26 2221.64 201.31 3440.15 385.30 8723.98 183.15 0.00 0.00
Puducherry 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 56.40 5.22 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Lakshadweep 550.18 462.86 927.17 462.09 796.37 269.91 498.62 124.66 434.37 217.19 521.55 130.38
Tripura 410.29 260.68 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 828.75 186.06 1510.83 339.49 0.00 0.00
Ladakh 441.03 223.17 31.95 31.95 61.12 61.12 0.06 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
* Mother sanction have been issued under SNA SPARSH for the quoted amount.
Note: “0.00” indicates that either the Annual plan of operations (APO) have not been
received or incomplete APO have been submitted.Annexure-II
Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *301 due for reply on 11.08.2025 regarding “Integrated
Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme”
Details of funds released to State Governments and UT Administrations during last Five years under the sub-scheme ‘Project Tiger & Elephant’ of ‘Integrated Development
of Wildlife Habitats’:
2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 ** 2023-24 ** 2024-25
States Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds
Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released Allocated Released Released Allocated Released Released
( PT) (PT) ( PE) (PE) (PT) (PT) ( PE) (PE) ( PT) (PT) ( PE) (PE) (PT&E) (PT) (PE) (PT&E) (PT) (PE)
Andhra 880.60 266.51 198 77.28 455.32 292.11 87.13 20.55 0.00 0.00 0 0 507.72 135.56 13.86 1422.53 350.70 14.43
Pradesh
Arunachal 1203.30 803.76 394.8 282.25 1199.18 869.08 228.48 157.76 1254.5 787.19 292.49 65.81 1557. 783.21 336.70 1964.44 1395.29 372.70
Pradesh
Assam 4144.39 2513.9 54.64 35.28 2392.89 1476.75 240 126.71 3294.1 2559.7 372 167.4 3880.4 2242.6 376.63 4606.01 2620.69 410.15
0
Bihar 1366.76 628.89 135 39.08 1064.55 552.72 0.00 0 1153.5 246.90 0.00 0 1208.6 302.52 6.47 1412.49 522.20 20.90
Chhattisgarh 1308.33 471.16 0 0 971.61 355.85 79.3 24.78 1013.4 165.75 0.00 0 1208.8 243.63 49.23 987.30 285.93 22.06
Jharkhand 422.56 128.45 303.1 111.86 368.92 195.06 297 86.68 503.54 227.75 300 78.05 971.10 218.54 187.25 1284.57 404.16 323.40
Karnataka 5872.52 2118.0 881.73 330.40 5056.09 2956.70 870.65 261.19 6051.7 1716.9 786.75 97.84 6784.3 2377.15 235.93 10674.1 2631.78 169.49
1
Kerala 1044.50 402.88 1197 574.56 1374.30 868.78 1041.55 550.96 1597.5 417.59 967.66 241.05 2394.1 653.31 342.91 2065.01 150.35 71.02
Madhya 6735.80 2551.2 0.00 0 5727.33 3523.52 41.74 12.61 8025.1 3956.8 78.32 11.38 9297.6 4251.31 52.48 14866.6 5887.09 23.41
Pradesh 6Maharashtra 8033.42 3098.0 71 17.98 7328.50 2991.06 0.00 0.00 7152.7 809.62 190.16 28.52 7910.8 2531.41 83.04 9378.55 4149.70 27.00
3
Odisha 1752.89 680.07 1197 577.09 1105.77 1056.86 1260.1 567.04 1897.7 946.82 598.71 212.76 2479.8 750.16 262.43 2134.09 760.77 158.81
Rajasthan 2746.18 1008.8 0.00 0 2185.23 841.05 74 15.18 2386.9 529.78 76 6.186 2691.2 932.30 36.00 2395.22 574.68 4.79
9
Tamil Nadu 3509.29 1336.1 0.00 0 3446.23 1576.22 453.9 181.84 4081.7 501.35 773.63 85.94 4917.7 2148.89 399.08 5577.10 2007.86 177.02
4
Uttarakhand 2948.98 1671.3 470 204.85 2181.43 1463.71 442.85 244.12 2339.4 741.13 284.54 18.74 2623.8 1343.26 152.26 3358.52 1656.98 166.25
0
Uttar Pradesh 2855.69 923.29 0.00 0 1935.66 1304.85 167.31 45.99 3715.2 919.96 78.42 9.85 3996.4 994.36 37.62 5292.88 1987.00 88.11
West Bengal 1200.94 333.96 144.61 64.19 1367.26 708.28 236 87.87 1623.2 458.77 241.5 30.05 1862.9 453.36 69.22 1531.32 396.83 29.12
Mizoram 241.84 161.53 0 0 415.70 374.13 0 0 350.00 78.75 0.00 0.00 330.00 144.00 0.00 526.96 356.30 10.79
Telangana 1434.03 351.97 0 0 987.31 543.26 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1182.0 323.31 0.00 1021.08 291.68 0.00
Haryana 0.00 0.00 30 11.04 0.00 0.00 28.23 4.23 0.00 0.00 58 17.4 58.00 0.00 26.10 72.00 0.00 31.20
Himachal 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 87.18 0.00 19.61 90.16 0.00 40.57
Pradesh
Manipur 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12 5.4 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 62.76 0.00 14.12 65.00 0.00 29.25
Meghalaya 0.00 0.00 52 9.36 0.00 0.00 210 141.75 0.00 0.00 149 32.14 290.00 0.00 65.25 132.00 0.00 59.40
Nagaland 0.00 0.00 205.56 92.5 0.00 0.00 468.46 279.75 0.00 0.00 523.5 235.57 375.30 0.00 337.77 339.38 0.00 305.44
Tripura 0.00 0.00 74 24.71 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 52.5 7.36 120.38 0.00 27.09 68.03 0.00 14.69
PT: Project Tiger PE: Project Elephant
** Project Tiger has been merged with Project Elephant under Centrally Sponsored Scheme and named viz Project Tiger &Elephant (PT&E) from 2023-2024