We missed the Green India Mission target by 98% — after a decade. Let that sink in.
98%.
Not 20%. Not 50%. Not even 80%.
According to the CAG's latest findings, the Green India Mission fell short of its forest-cover targets by nearly 98% during its 10 years of implementation from 2015–16 to 2024–25.
The mission was created to protect, restore and enhance India's forest and tree cover. Its broader target included increasing forest/tree cover by 5 million hectares and improving the quality of another 5 million hectares.
And after ten years, the scale of the shortfall is honestly difficult to comprehend.
This isn't just about planting trees.
It's about climate resilience, biodiversity, water security, air quality and the kind of environment we leave behind for the next generation.
The CAG has also flagged issues around implementation and management. Meanwhile, the Green India Mission has continued to receive public funding; the 2026–27 allocation is ₹170 crore, while PRS notes that only 28% of the revised 2025–26 allocation had been utilised.
So my question isn't simply “Why did we fail?”
It's:
How can a national environmental mission miss its target by nearly 98% over a decade without triggering much stronger accountability?
If the original targets were unrealistic, they should have been revised transparently.
If implementation was the problem, those responsible should have been held accountable.
And if funding or coordination was the problem, that should have been addressed much earlier.
We cannot keep announcing ambitious environmental targets while treating the actual results as an afterthought.