The Green India Mission (National Mission for a Green India) is one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, run by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to protect, restore and enhance India’s forest and tree cover – originally by adding 5 million hectares and improving the quality of another 5 million hectares – so that forests store more carbon, protect biodiversity and water, and support forest-dependent livelihoods.
Context
- The Comptroller and Auditor General flagged major shortcomings in the mission: inadequate funding, weak coordination between government schemes, poor monitoring and failure to meet key targets for improving forest cover and its quality.
- A revised Green India Mission document for 2021-2030, released in 2025, sets larger restoration goals to help India meet its Paris commitment of an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.
What the Mission Is
- Conceived in 2010 as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC, 2008); launched in 2014 by MoEFCC, with implementation from 2015-16.
- Aim: protect, restore and enhance India’s diminishing forest cover and respond to climate change through adaptation and mitigation.
- Objectives: improve ecosystem services such as biodiversity, hydrological services and carbon sequestration; increase forest-based livelihood incomes of about 3 million households; and increase forest and tree cover.
- Targets: increase forest and tree cover on 5 million hectares and improve the quality of forest cover on another 5 million hectares – 10 million hectares in all.
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How It Works
- Implemented through State Forest Departments and Joint Forest Management Committees and gram sabhas, with landscape-level planning.
- Funds come from the mission’s own budget and by convergence with MGNREGS, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA), the National Afforestation Programme and state schemes – which is where the CAG found weak coordination.
- Activities: assisted natural regeneration, plantation of degraded forests, agro-forestry and social forestry, mangrove and wetland restoration, urban greening and fuel-wood alternatives.
Why It Matters
- India’s forest and tree cover is about 25% of its geographical area (India State of Forest Report 2023) against the National Forest Policy 1988 goal of 33%.
- Forest carbon sinks are one of India’s three main NDC commitments under the Paris Agreement.
- The CAG’s findings point to the gap between targets and funding that the revised mission tries to close.
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- Green India Mission: one of eight NAPCC missions; conceived 2010, launched 2014; ministry – MoEFCC.
- Targets: 5 million hectares of new forest and tree cover plus 5 million hectares of improved quality; livelihoods for 3 million households.
- Revised mission document 2021-2030 released in 2025, aligned with the NDC carbon-sink target of 2.5-3 billion tonnes CO2e.
- Other NAPCC missions: Solar, Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Water, Himalayan Ecosystem, Sustainable Agriculture, Strategic Knowledge.
- ISFR 2023: forest and tree cover about 25.17% of India’s area.
FAQs
How is GIM different from CAMPA?
CAMPA holds compensatory afforestation money paid by projects that divert forest land; GIM is a planned mission for restoration and quality improvement, and can use CAMPA funds through convergence.
What did the CAG criticise?
Under-funding against the mission’s own estimates, poor coordination between schemes, weak monitoring of plantations and shortfalls in area and quality targets.
Why is GIM asked in NABARD and RBI exams?
Climate missions and forest cover figures are standard ESI and general awareness questions; the eight NAPCC missions and the 10-million-hectare target are the usual ones.
