Amendments in the policies of Assignment of Forest land on lease

Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Forest Conservation Division) has intimated to The Addl. Chief Secretaries of Forests, All States Government/Union territories Administrations vide File No. 11/56/2023-FC dated 02 January 2026

The: Amendment of the Guidelines notified on 29.11.2023 and incorporated at para 7.2 of the Consolidated Guidelines specifying the terms and conditions for the assignment of forest land on lease reg.

Based on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee and approval of the said recommendations by the competent authority, the Central Government with a view to align with the evolving framework for restoration of forest land and utilization of silviculturaly available sustainable harvest from the forests and in accordance with the provision of section 2(1)(iii) and section 3C of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, hereby amend the sub para 14 of para 7.2 of the guidelines notified on 29.11.2023 and incorporated at para 7.2 of the Consolidated Guidelines, by inserting the following proviso;

Provided that where the State Government agrees to undertake assisted natural regeneration including afforestation/plantation, for purposes mutually agreed between the States/UTs and Government or non-Government entities, such activities undertaken in accordance with the provisions of an approved Working Plan/Management Plan, applicable in such cases and under the supervision of the State Forest Department shall be deemed to constitute forestry activities.

Consequently, the requirements of Compensatory Afforestation and payment of Net Present Value shall not be applicable to such activities. The State Government shall, however, be at liberty to devise an appropriate framework for the utilization of such plantations and for revenue sharing thereof, on a case-to-case basis.

Provided further that afforestation/plantations should be allowed by the State/UTs in accordance with a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to be prepared in consonance with provisions of the Working Plan and approved by the competent authority specifying the detail viz. extent of area, species proposed for plantations, activities proposed, silviculturaly available sustainable harvest for utilization, etc.

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