The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India recently released a scathing performance audit of the Green India Mission (GIM), labeling its progress over the last decade as "negligible".

The Green India Mission was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2014 as one of the eight missions under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change. The mission aims to protect, restore and enhance the country’s forest and tree cover while addressing climate change through adaptation and mitigation measures.

However, the report -- submitted to Parliament -- reveals that the flagship environmental scheme has failed to meet nearly all its primary targets, undermined by massive funding gaps, suspected financial misappropriation, and "ghost" plantations that exist only on paper.

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Launched with the ambitious goal of protecting and enhancing India’s forest cover to mitigate climate change, the Green India Mission has instead delivered a cumulative shortfall of 94.72% against its initial targets.

While the Union Government approved interventions for 2.8 million hectares (mha) in 2014, only 0.147 mha had actually been treated by March 2025.

The audit notes that even as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) adopted a new target of 25 mha in 2021, it has yet to frame implementation guidelines for this goal, leaving the Mission in a state of perpetual planning.

The ₹10,600 crore funding mirage

The core of the Mission's failure lies in a fundamental collapse of its financial design. The GIM was premised on "convergence" -- the idea that ₹10,600 crore of its ₹13,000 crore budget would be sourced from other schemes like CAMPA and MGNREGS.

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However, the CAG found that this convergence never materialized. "Anticipated support from stakeholders... did not materialise," the report states, leaving the Mission dependent on a limited annual budget that provided only 47.88% of required funds over ten years.

Furthermore, the audit flagged a "suspected misappropriation" of ₹9.19 crore in Mizoram, where funds were withdrawn in cash with no documentary evidence of utilization.

Because the convergence efforts failed, the Mission became entirely dependent on limited annual budgetary support from the Union Government. Over a 10-year implementation period (2015-16 to 2024-25), only ₹1,149.14 crore was provided -- just 47.88% of the projected amount needed even for its downsized objectives.

Planting in "dense forests"

In a baffling departure from its own guidelines, the Mission often ignored ecologically fragile areas like scrublands and abandoned mines. Instead, investigators found that multiple states carried out afforestation activities in existing dense forests that required no intervention.

In Odisha, plantations were carried out in forests with canopy densities as high as 90%, leading to poor growth and wasted resources. Additionally, despite Green India Mission's objective to restore native biodiversity, many states prioritized exotic and invasive species like Silver Oak and Eucalyptus, which can be detrimental to local ecosystems.

"Ghost" plantations

The most damning evidence comes from the CAG’s independent GIS analysis. Leveraging satellite imagery and expert analysis from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, the audit assessed 153 plantation sites across nine states.

The results were startling. While states reported significant afforestation progress, the scientific analysis of 153 plantation sites revealed that 70% of the areas showed no noticeable improvement in tree cover.

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The audit found instances of inflated data and overlapping coordinates, where the same piece of land was claimed to have been planted multiple times or under different schemes like CAMPA and Namami Gange.

The audit accused the Ministry of failing to validate data reported by states, leading to inflated reporting and the dissemination of unreliable information to the public.

Governance in absentia

The report highlights a total breakdown in oversight. The National Governing Council, chaired by the Union Minister, met only twice in ten years instead of the mandatory ten times.

At the grassroots level, social audits by Gram Sabhas -- intended to ensure local accountability -- were virtually non-existent in 14 of the 16 states sampled.

High-tech carbon flux towers installed in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at a cost of ₹3.50 crore were found to be idling and non-operational due to poor maintenance planning.

Funds were diverted to non-permissible items like constructing community halls, purchasing office furniture, and even buying utensils.

The CAG concluded that without "urgent corrective measures," it is highly unlikely that the Green India Mission will contribute meaningfully to India's global commitment to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes by 2030.