Over 99,000 ha forest land diverted for projects in last five years: Govt
New Delhi (PTI): India has diverted more than 99,000 hectares of forest land for non-forestry purposes since 2020, with roads, mining, hydroelectric, and irrigation projects accounting for the largest share, according to official data shared in Parliament on Thursday.
Union Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha that 22,233 ha were diverted for road projects alone between 2020-21 and 2024-25, followed by 18,914 ha for mining and quarrying, and 17,434 ha for hydel and irrigation works.
Power transmission lines required 13,859 ha, while railway projects saw the diversion of 5,957 ha.
Other major categories include forest village conversion (1,362 ha), drinking water projects (1,281 ha), rehabilitation works (1,508 ha), canals (80 ha), defence projects (6,042 ha), optical fibre cable (391 ha), industries (150 ha), and new petrol pumps (1,927 ha).
Smaller diversions were recorded for solar and wind power, schools, hospitals and communication posts.
Data shows a sharp rise in certain categories in 2024-25, including drinking water schemes (376 ha), petrol pumps (42 ha), and power transmission lines (3,820 ha). The re-diversion/land use change category also saw 180 new cases that year.
The ministry said that a total of 3,826 road projects received forest clearance since 2020, the highest across all sectors.
Pipelines (756), drinking water projects (676), optical fibre cable (524), hydel/irrigation (194), mining/quarrying (190) and railway projects (182) formed the next major categories.
Among smaller but notable categories were defence (116 clearances), industry (41), village electricity (31), school and educational institutions (37), and non-conventional energy (7). Solar and wind power projects received only eight and one clearances respectively over the five-year period.
The reply did not provide details of people affected by forest diversion or clearances.
The minister said such information is handled through the land acquisition law and reviewed during environmental clearance processes.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
