(a) the names of States having forest cover more than the National coverage;
(b) whether the Government proposes to provide special financial assistance to the States
which have forest cover more than the National coverage;
(c) if so, the details thereof and the time by which this assistance is likely to be made
available to these States; and
(d) if not, the reasons therefor and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF THE STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & FOREST (SHRI JAIRAM RAMESH):
(a) The names of the States having forest cover more than the National average (21.02%) as per the latest
assessment carried out by the Forest Survey of India and published in ‘India State of Forest Report 2009’
are as follows:
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala,Madhya Pradesh, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand. Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and
Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep are the UTs in this category.
(b), (c) & (d) XIII Finance Commission has recommended Grants-in-Aid of Rs. 5000 crores for five years
starting from 2010-11 onwards to compensate the States on basis of share of National forested area
falling in the State as well as to economic disability on basis of the percentage of forested area
in each State. Rs. 625 crores have been released to various States during the year 2010-2011 so far.
The details of allocation State wise and year wise is given in Annexure.