Forest Land on Lease
Forest Land on Lease
Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an organisation under the Ministry carries out the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR). As per the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, the total Recorded Forest Area in the Country is 7,75,288 square kilometer. The State and Union Territory wise detail including the State of Maharashtra is attached as an Annexure.
The ‘land’ is a State subject. The forest areas and the legal boundaries thereof are determined and maintained by the concerned State Government/UT Administration. Accordingly, the final decision to assign on lease or allot the forest land is within the domain of the concerned State Government/ UT Administration. However, the prior approval of the Central Government under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 is required for using any forest land for non-forestry purposes.
Further, the protection and management of forests is primarily the responsibility of the concerned State Government /UT Administration, which takes appropriate actions to remove unauthorised/illegal possession of forest land under the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and other State specific laws and Rules made thereunder.
Annexure
Recorded Forest Areas (RFA) in States/UTs as per ISFR-2021
(Area in square kilometer)
S. No.
State/ UT
Geographical
Area (GA)
RFA (in different categories)
Total RFA (2021)
Reserved Forest
Protected Forest
Unclassed Forests*
Andhra Pradesh
1,62,968
31,959
5,069
230
37,258
Arunachal Pradesh
83,743
12,371
11,857
27,312
51,540
Assam
78,438
17,864
0
8,972
26,836
Bihar
94,163
693
6,183
566
7,442
Chhattisgarh
1,35,192
25,897
24,036
9,883
59,816
Delhi
1,483
78
25
0
103
Goa
3,702
119
755
397
1,271
Gujarat
196,244
14,574
2,898
4,398
21,870
Haryana
44,212
249
1,158
152
1,559
Himachal Pradesh
55,673
1,883
28,887
7,178
37,948
Jharkhand
79,716
4,500
18,922
1,696
25,118
Karnataka
191,791
28,690
3,931
5,663
38,284
Kerala
38,852
11,522
0
0
11,522
Madhya Pradesh
3,08,252
61,886
31,098
1,705
94,689
Maharashtra
3,07,713
50,865
6,433
4,654
61,952
Manipur
22,327
984
3,254
13,180
17,418
Meghalaya
22,429
1,113
12
8,371
9,496
Mizoram
21,081
4,499
1,823
1,157
7,479
Nagaland
16,579
234
0
8,389
8,623
Odisha
1,55,707
36,049
25,133
22
61,204
Punjab
50,362
44
1,137
1,903
3,084
Rajasthan
3,42,239
12,176
18,543
2,144
32,863
Sikkim
7,096
5,452
389
0
5,841
Tamil Nadu
1,30,060
20,523
1,053
1,612
23,188
Telangana
1,12,077
25,800
1,592
296
27,688
Tripura
10,486
3,588
2
2,704
6,294
Uttar Pradesh**
2,40,928
11,560
296
5,528
17,384
Uttarakhand
53,483
26,547
9,885
1,568
38,000
West Bengal
88,752
7,054
3,772
1,053
11,879
A & N Islands
8,249
5,613
1,558
0
7,171
Chandigarh
114
32
0
3
35
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
602
203
5
6
214
Jammu&
Kashmir
Shape file Area*** (54,624)
2,22,236
17,648
2,551
0
20,199
Ladakh
Shape file Area*** (1,68,055)
7
0
0
7
Lakshadweep
30
0
0
0
0
Puducherry
490
0
2
11
13
Total
32,87,469
4,42,276
2,12,259
1,20,753
7,75,288
Source: State/UTs Forest Departments
*Unclassed Forest includes all forest other than Reserve Forest and Protected Forest as reported by State/UTs Forest Departments.
**In case of Uttar Pradesh, the RFA excludes 9,662.764 km of linear plantations along Road, Railway line and Canal.
***Area of shape file provided by Survey of India (August, 2021). Notified geographical areas for individual UTs from SOI are awaited.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.