New Delhi — A scathing audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), recently submitted to Parliament, has cast a long shadow over the National Mission for a Green India (GIM). The report characterizes the mission’s progress as “negligible,” citing a catastrophic failure in meeting afforestation targets, consistent underutilization of funds, and a systemic breakdown in planning and execution.
As one of the eight pillars of India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), the Green India Mission was designed to be the country’s primary vehicle for expanding forest cover and enhancing carbon sequestration. However, the CAG’s findings suggest that after a decade of implementation, the mission has largely failed to achieve its ecological and administrative objectives, raising serious questions about India’s ability to meet its international climate commitments.
Main Facts: A Mission in Stagnation
The CAG audit, which assessed 15 states and one Union Territory over the period from 2015 to 2025, paints a picture of a mission crippled by institutional inertia. The most striking revelation is the massive gap between the mission’s stated targets and its actual output.
In 2014, the Mission set a target to undertake afforestation across 2.8 million hectares (mha) of land by 2018. The audit found that interventions were actually made in only approximately 0.15 million hectares—a mere 5% of the goal area. Furthermore, the objective of improving ecosystem services and forest restoration on 1.4 million hectares saw a shortfall of 97.57%.
The report highlights several core issues:
- Fiscal Underutilization: Funds were consistently left untouched or mismanaged.
- Planning Deficiencies: Sites were selected without regard for ecological suitability.
- Monitoring Failures: Data regarding tree survival and carbon sequestration was either non-existent or inaccurately reported.
- Ecological Neglect: Critical landscapes such as scrublands, ravines, and abandoned mines were ignored in favor of easier, “low-vulnerability” sites.
Chronology: From Ambitious Vision to Audit Scrutiny
To understand the current state of the Green India Mission, one must look at its evolution over the last 15 years:
- 2008: The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is launched, identifying the Green India Mission as a key strategy for climate mitigation.
- 2011: The GIM is formally launched with an ambitious goal to enhance forest and tree cover on 10 million hectares of land over a 10-year period.
- 2014: The mission’s targets are refined. A specific goal is set to achieve afforestation on 2.8 million hectares by 2018.
- 2015–2025: This decade serves as the primary window for the CAG’s audit. During this time, the mission was expected to scale up through "convergence funding" from other government schemes.
- August 12, 2024: The CAG submits its audit report to Parliament, exposing the wide chasm between the mission’s 2011/2014 promises and the 2024 reality.
- 2025 and Beyond: India faces the challenge of creating a carbon sink capable of absorbing 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2035, a target now imperiled by the GIM’s failure.
Supporting Data: The Anatomy of Failure
The CAG report provides granular data on how the mission unraveled at both the central and state levels.
1. The Funding Crisis and Convergence Failure
Initially, the government projected a requirement of ₹130 billion for the mission. The strategy relied heavily on "convergence"—a process where the GIM would draw funds from other major schemes:
- MGNREGA: ₹40 billion
- Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA): ₹60 billion
- National Afforestation Policy: ₹6 billion
However, the audit noted that neither national nor state-level institutions could effectively coordinate this convergence. Consequently, the central government provided direct contributions of only ₹11.49 billion over the 10-year audit period. This lack of capital trickled down to the district level, where functional forest authorities often existed only on paper.
2. State-Level Discrepancies and Potential Misappropriation
The audit unearthed alarming irregularities in how money was spent—or claimed to be spent—at the state level:
- Mizoram: The CAG flagged a potential misappropriation of ₹91 million. Funds were released to the Kolasib forest district authority and withdrawn in cash, but no documentary evidence of afforestation was provided.
- Uttarakhand: In the Chakrata division, authorities claimed to have planted 2,000 saplings at the Dabala Sagwa Tok site. Upon physical inspection, the CAG found only 30 to 40 saplings, none of which had survived.
- Odisha: Afforestation activities were carried out in areas that already had 40% to 70% canopy density. Planting trees in already dense forests is considered a waste of resources, as these areas do not require afforestation interventions.
3. The Carbon Data Vacuum
A primary goal of the GIM is carbon sequestration to mitigate global warming. However, the CAG found that between 2015 and 2025, almost no states—with the exceptions of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh—conducted any scientific assessment of carbon sequestration. Without this data, the government’s claims regarding climate progress remain unsubstantiated.
Official Responses and Expert Critique
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has been urged by the CAG to overhaul its "bottom-up" planning process. The audit recommends that the Ministry conduct "test-checks" to ensure site suitability and prevent the wastage of labor and money on unsuitable land.
Ecologists and researchers have long been skeptical of the mission’s methodology. Pooja Choksi, an ecologist and founder of Ficus Research Consulting, described the CAG report as a "timely wake-up call."
"It is an indication that we need to do things radically differently if we want to achieve our land use and forestry-related targets," Choksi stated. She emphasized that the current focus on "greening" often ignores the biogeography of a region. "If district and sub-district expenditure data was made available to the public, we could have much more accurate independent evaluations. We need a lot more transparency."
The report also criticized the Ministry for failing to push states to include diverse ecosystems. While eight states had significant scrubland areas (totaling 2.11 mha), they set zero targets for their restoration, and the Ministry did not intervene to correct this oversight.
Implications: Climate Goals and Ecological Integrity
The failure of the Green India Mission has profound implications for India’s ecological health and its standing in the global climate community.
1. Risk to International Commitments
India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement rely heavily on the expansion of forest cover to act as a carbon sink. The CAG’s finding that nearly 70% of assessed locations showed no improvement suggests that India may struggle to meet its 2035 target of absorbing 3.5 to 4 billion tonnes of CO2.
2. The "Wrong Tree, Wrong Place" Syndrome
The audit reinforces a long-standing concern among environmentalists: that government afforestation often prioritizes quantity over quality. By ignoring grasslands and scrublands, or by planting in existing forests, the mission risks destroying local biodiversity. Grasslands, for instance, are vital for specific wildlife and local livelihoods, yet they are often misclassified as "wastelands" and subjected to inappropriate tree planting.
3. Administrative and Social Consequences
The mission’s design intended for "bottom-up" planning via Gram Sabhas (village councils). However, the audit found that only 54% of village-level microplans were actually approved by these councils. This bypasses local governance and often leads to the selection of sites that are either unsuitable for planting or conflict with local land use.
4. A Path Forward?
Despite the grim findings, experts suggest there is a path to redemption. The recent launch of the "Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems" by the Ministry provides a framework for moving beyond simple "tree planting" toward genuine ecosystem restoration.
The CAG’s recommendation is clear: the Ministry must ensure that future efforts are rooted in scientific site selection, transparent data sharing, and genuine community involvement. Without these changes, the Green India Mission risks remaining a "negligible" footnote in India’s environmental history, rather than the transformative force it was intended to be.
Banner image: A representative image of a government tree planting campaign. The CAG audit suggests that without better monitoring, such efforts often fail to result in long-term forest growth. Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP.
