Lok Sabha Question No. 3854 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-16
Subject: Diversion of Forest and Agriculture Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3854

TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2026

## Diversion of Forest and Agriculture Land

## 3854. SMT.HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL:

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

- (a) whether the Government acknowledges the ongoing decline in the acreage of forest and agriculture land across several States in the country particularly in Punjab;
- (b) the details of the factors identified by the Government as contributing to this reduction, such as urbanization, industrial activity, land fragmentation and lack of effective land consolidation policies;
- (c) the specific steps taken by the Government to prevent further diversion of forest and agriculture land for non agricultural purposes and the extent to which these measures have been effective in reversing the trend; and
- (d) the  steps  proposed  to  be  adopted  by  the  Government  to  prevent  misuse  of  rural agriculture land in the name of drastic urbanization?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a) to (d) Forest  Survey  of  India  (FSI),  Dehradun,  an  organization  under  the  Ministry  of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, carries out the assessment of forest and tree cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in the India State of  Forest  Report (ISFR).  The forest  cover assessment is a wall to wall mapping exercised based on remote sensing supported by intensive ground verification and field data from the National Forest Inventory.

As per ISFR 2023 , the Recorded Forest Area (RFA) of the country is 7,75,377 square kilometer , constituting 23.59% of the geographical area. As per ISFR 2021, RFA was 7,75,288 square kilometer, constituting 23.58% of the geographical area. The comparison indicates that there is increase of 89 square kilometer of RFA between ISFR 2021 and ISFR 2023. Further, there is no decline in the Recorded Forest Area of the State of Punjab between ISFR 2021 and ISFR 2023.

As  per  the  latest  report  on  'Land  Use  Statistics-at  a  Glance  2023-24',  despite marginal decline in cultivable/agricultural land, the Net Sown Area has remained relatively  stable  over  the  years.  Further,  the  Gross  Cropped  Area  has  expanded significantly, rising from 201.3 million hectares in 2013-14 to 217.8 million hectares in 2023-24.

The  Van  (Sanrakshan  Evam  Samvardhan)  Adhiniyam,  1980 (earlier  the  Forest (Conservation)  Act,  1980)  has  been  enacted  to  provide  for  the conservation, protection  and  sustainable  management  of  forest  land  in  the  country.  The  Act regulates the diversion of forest  land  for non-forest  purposes and mandates prior approval of the Central Government for such diversion, thereby ensuring that forest resources are safeguarded and any use of forest land is subject to strict scrutiny and appropriate  mitigation  measures  such  as  compensatory  afforestation  and  other conservation safeguards.

Land and agriculture are the state subjects, as per Entry No. 18 of List II (State List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, land falls under the jurisdiction of  State  Governments,  which  are  responsible  for  taking  appropriate  measures  to increase the area under cultivation and prevent the diversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. However, the Government of India supports these efforts through policy initiatives and budgetary assistance.

Department of Land Resources is implementing Watershed Development Component of  Pradhan Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (WDC-PMKSY)  which primarily focuses on development rainfed/ degraded lands. The activities undertaken in the scheme, inter alia, include ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, nursery raising, pasture development,  livelihoods  for  asset-less  persons  etc.  The  measures  taken  under WDC-PMKSY supplements the effort of the Government to increase the area under cultivation. This scheme has been approved by the Government on 15th December, 2021.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed several technological measures to increase the area under cultivation. This includes location specific bio-engineering to check soil erosion due to run-off of rainwater, sand dune stabilization  and  shelter  belt  technology  to  check  wind  erosion  and  reclamation technology for problem soils in the country. ICAR has also developed the gypsum technology  package,  consisting  of  land  levelling,  bunding,  flushing,  removal  of excess water, good quality irrigation water, application of amendments, selection of crops and efficient nutrient management. ICAR also recommends several agronomic measures to improve the degraded soils and bringing them under crop cultivation, soil test based balanced and integrated nutrient management through conjunctive use of both inorganic and organic sources (manner, biofertilizers etc.) of plant nutrient and location specific soil & water conservation measures for preventing deterioration of soil health and fertility.

The  Central  Government  has  enacted  the  Right  to  Fair  Compensation  and Transparency  in  Land  Acquisition,  Rehabilitation  &  Resettlement  (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013, which came into force on 01.01.2014. Under this act, land can be acquired for public purposes. Section 10 of the Act explicitly restricts the acquisition of multicrop irrigated land, unless in exceptional cases where no alternative land is available. In  such  cases,  equivalent  wasteland  must  be  developed  for  agriculture.  Data  on conversion  of agricultural  land for  non-agricultural  purposes  is maintained  at  the State  level,  as  land  is  a  State  subject  under  the  Constitution.  However,  the RFCTLARR Act, 2013, strongly  discourages  such  conversions  unless  absolutely necessary.  Wherever  agricultural  land  is  acquired,  compensatory  mechanisms, including monetary compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement benefits, and in some cases,  land  for  land  compensation,  are  provided  to  mitigate  the  impact  on farmers.