New Delhi: Environment-restoration activities under the Green Credit Program have been initiated covering an area of 4,258 hectares with the participation of 17 agencies, the Union Environment Ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The Centre’s Green Credit Program is a scheme aimed at tackling land degradation. (Representative photo)Under the Centre’s Green Credit Programme, A project aimed at combating land degradationdegraded land parcels are identified and rehabilitated with financial assistance from various public and private organizations including industry.
Degraded land parcels proposed to be taken up under the green credit program have been selected and registered by the state forest department after due verification on the land, the ministry said while replying to questions from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Yogendra Chandolia.
Questions related to the process adopted under Green Credit Program for registration of degraded land, disbursement of Green Credit and digital monitoring of plantation activities; Category of participants eligible to undertake plantation activities under the programme; and the results achieved so far in increasing forest and tree cover, creating an inventory of degraded land for afforestation and encouraging citizen and corporate participation in sustainable environmental initiatives.
In response, Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh said, “Green credit can be claimed by an applicant only after a minimum of five years of restoration work has been completed and a minimum canopy density of forty percent has been achieved. A five-year establishment period has been prescribed to allow planted saplings, so as to cover ads for natural growth and development. The prescribed 40% canopy density, corresponds to a moderately dense forest.”
More Read
The “designated agency” designated under the Green Credit Program will conduct the verification of claims for Green Credits and submit a report to the Administrator on the verification of activities undertaken by an applicant for granting Green Credits, Singh said, enabling the Green Credit Program’s transparency and accountability mechanism and digital process guidelines.
“Forest restoration activities under the Green Credit Program aim to increase biodiversity and improve ecological health and productivity of forest resources,” he said.
The Ministry added that the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun, is the administrator responsible for the effective implementation of the Green Credit Programme, including its administration, management and disbursement of Green Credit under the rules.
Separately, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) said the central government had not given any prior approval for the conversion of 1,742 hectares of forest land for the extension block of ‘Kente Arende’ under the VAN (Conservation and Promotion) Act, 1980. Chhattisgarh.
In response to questions (1) whether the Government has recently approved conversion of 1,742 hectares of forest land for the ‘Kente Extension’ coal block and if so, the details thereof; (2) the estimated number of trees felled and the potential impact of the project on local biodiversity and elephant corridors; And (3) whether the government has received objections from local gram sabhas, Singh said, “A proposal was submitted by the state government to the ministry on environment portal on November 25, 2025, for 1,742.60 hectares of forest land for extension opencast coal mining in Kent.
“As per the information received from the Chhattisgarh government, no objection has been received from the local village sabhas against the proposal so far. The central government has not given any prior permission for the change of forest land for the proposal,” he added.
