Forest land to become costlier for industry
In a move that’s set to face stiff resistance from infrastructure ministries as well as the industry, the environment and forests ministry is mulling a thirty five per cent to four hundred per cent increase in compensation for forest land acquired for various projects.
As per a 2002 Supreme Court order, the amount that is deposited by user agencies for forest land that has been granted to them for non-forest usage is called as the Net Present Value. The rates at which the Net Present Value (NPV) of such land is calculated are going to be revised by the ministry. Additionally it can be classified as the intrinsic land cost as well as the tangible and intangible benefits of the forest area. The NPV was being charged at Rs.5.8 lakh to Rs.9.2 lakh per hectare prior to the revision. Around 2008, these rates were instated and made applicable.
The revision is being made on the basis of a report submitted by Bhopal’s Indian Institute of Forest Management.
In accordance with the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) report, the approximation of the revision, the NPV of land located within very dense forest areas would increase by 130 per cent to 433 per cent, areas in moderately dense forest by 113 per cent to 386 per cent, and areas canopied by open forest by 35 per cent to 269 per cent.
The rationale behind the collection of NPV was that, the uncompensated benefits of losing a forest ecosystem could be balanced till the compensatory afforestation area starts providing comparable benefits.
The proposed NPV strives to calculate a more comprehensive economic value of forest land by factoring its greater ecosystem benefits such as bio-prospecting, carbon storage, carbon sequestration, soil conservation, pollination, water recharge and purification, seed dispersal, apart from of course, bamboo, timber, firewood and fodder.
In keeping with the SC directive to revise NPR every three years, the government commissioned the IIFM report in 2012. This report also suggests a onetime ‘possession value’ on NPV within urban areas and an additional premium on the NPV amount within national parks, eco-sensitive zones, sanctuaries, forested wetlands and hill talukas.
The report suggests, that for core areas of sanctuaries and parks the NPV should be five times and ten times the normal rate respectively. Opinion of all stakeholders is being sought by the ministry on both the IIFM report as well as the proposed revision of NPV.
