Lok Sabha Question No. 3606 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-08
Subject: Conservation of Forest in Madhya Pradesh
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Gajendra Singh Patel, Durga Das Uikey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOKSABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3606 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2022

## Conservation of Forest in Madhya Pradesh

3606 SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH PATEL:

SHRI DURGA DAS (D.D.) UIKEY:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the steps taken to reduce the dependence on conventional energy for environmental protection in the country;
- (b) the details of the schemes being implemented for forest conservation in Madhya Pradesh especially in tribal areas;
- (c) the  details  of  positive  outcomes  of  the  schemes  for  forest  conservation  and expansion in Madhya Pradesh; and
- (d) whether  there  is  a  proposal  of  any  special  scheme  for  forest  conservation  in aspirational districts and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) As  per  the  information  provided  by  the  Ministry  of  Power,  following  steps have been taken by the government to reduce the dependence on conventional energy for environment protection in the country:
- (i) The  capacity  of  about  18058.24  MW  of  inefficient  and  old  thermal power generation units  has  already  been  retired  till  date.  Additionally, NTPC has planned for phasing out few more units. The details of the same are given below:
- (ii) In respect of Thermal Power Plants (TPP), many TPP already adopted use of efficient  technologies  i.e.  from  subcritical  to  supercritical  and now using ultra-supercritical technology in order to improve efficiency, thereby reducing coal consumption and emissions. A total capacity of Supercritical/ Ultra-supercritical units of 61,710 MW (89 Units) and 1320 MW (2 units) has been commissioned respectively till date. Moreover, NTPC, in collaboration with Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic  Research  (IGCAR)  and  BHEL,  is  also  developing  Advance

|   Sl. No. | Plant Name   | State   | Capacity& Configuration (MW)   |
|-----------|--------------|---------|--------------------------------|
|         1 | Barauni      | Bihar   | 220 (2X110)                    |
|         2 | Tanda        | U.P.    | 440 (4X110)                    |

Ultra  Super  Critical  Technology,  with  enhanced  efficiency  of  about 46% and over  15% less  CO2  emission  as  compared  to  conventional 500MW sub-critical thermal power projects. The R&D Phase of the technology has been completed and the execution of the Demonstration Plant is under planning stage.

- (iii) Nuclear Power Plants of 8,700 MW  of capacity are under construction  and  7000  MW  of  Nuclear  power  plants  have  been accorded Administrative Approval and Financial Sanction.
- (iv) Hydro  Power  Plants  of  14103.50  MW  of  capacity  are  at  various stages of construction in the country
- (v) The  Government  of  India  announced  target  of  175  GW  renewable capacity by 2022. As on 30.06.2022, the renewable capacity in India is 160.91 GW(including large hydro power) and  114.06  GW (excluding large hydro).

Moreover,  the  Government  has  taken  several  steps  to  attract  investment  in renewable energy sector in the country. These include:

- Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route,
- Waiver  of  Inter  State  Transmission  System  (ISTS)  charges  for  interstate sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025,
- Declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2029-30.
- Setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers on a plug and play basis.
- Schemes  such  as  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Urja  Surakshaevam  Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), Solar Rooftop Phase II, 12000 MW CPSU Scheme Phase II, etc.
- Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity under the Green Energy Corridor Scheme for evacuation of renewable power.
- Setting  up  of  Project  Development  Cell  for  attracting  and  facilitating investments.
- Standard  Bidding  Guidelines  for  tariff  based  competitive  bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects.
- (b)& (c) As per the information provided by the Government of Madhya Pradesh all the schemes  contributing  to  conservation  of  forest  are  implemented  across  the state. The detail of schemes under Tribal sub-plan in the State is as below:

|   S. No. |   Scheme code as per the Budget Book | Name of the Scheme                             |
|----------|--------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
|        1 |                                 3730 | Overall development of Wildlife Habitat        |
|        2 |                                 3896 | Compensation in human wildlife animal conflict |

|   3 |   5109 | Compensation for rehabilitation of Villages   |
|-----|--------|-----------------------------------------------|
|   4 |   7488 | Forest Development Agency                     |
|   5 |   7882 | Implementation of Working Plan                |
|   6 |   5317 | Intensive Forest Management                   |

Further,the  National  Forest  Policy  (NFP),  1988,  encourages  planting  of  trees on  different  types  of  lands  in  the  country  including  Madhya  Pradesh.  To increase and improve the forest and tree cover in the country, the Ministry of Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC)  has  taken  several initiatives.  These  include  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes,  such  as  National Afforestation Programme, National Mission for Green India and Development of  Wildlife  Habitats.  Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Rules,  2018  also contain provisions for taking up assisted natural regeneration, artificial regeneration  and  silvicultural  operations,  which  contribute  conservation  of forest and natural resources.

The  State  Government  has  intimated  that  the  forest  cover  of  the  State  has improved in the last two decades due to efficientimplementation of the various schemes. Some of the highlights are given below-

- (i) Under community based forest restoration programme 4.3 lakh hectare has  been  completely  restored  spread  across  the  1152  villages  of  the state.
- (ii) The forest cover of the state has increased from 76429 sq.km. in 2003 to 77492.60 sq.km. in 2021 as per the ISFRs prepared by Forest Survey of India.
- (d) As  per  the  information  provided  by  the  NITI  Aayog,  the  template  of  the Aspirational Districts Programme  (ADP) involves identification of key performance indicators, robust monitoring of progress and granting additional allocation  to  the  districts  on  basis  of  their  performance.  49  key  performance indicators have been selected across 5 sectors identified under the Programme, i.e., Health & Nutrition, Education, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, Basic Infrastructure and Agriculture & Water Resources. A district's performance  is  monitored  on  the  basis  of  progress  made  on  these  indicators and  every  month,  districts  are  ranked  on  the  basis  of  progress  made.  This instils a sense of competition in them which results in rapid improvement. The best  performing Districts  in  overall  terms  and  in  each  of  the  five  sectors  are rewarded with additional allocation for their performance. The main strategy of the  Aspirational  Districts  Programme  is  based  on  convergence  of  existing schemes which have their own funding arrangement.

As per the project guidelines, once the districts concerned become eligible for the additional allocation on the basis of performance, they are to formulate a plan  of  action  by  listing  projects  to  be  funded  by  such  grant.  There  is  no proposal for any special scheme for forest conservation in aspirational districts.

*****