India CAMPA compensatory afforestation fund
India's compensatory afforestation fund collects payments from projects that clear forest land and spends them on planting. Civil-society records document planting on land communities held or claimed, and an official audit found fund money used on consumer goods.
26,001 crore of 38,516 crore rupees, per a Supreme Court-appointed committee's 2025 report.
Status As of July 2025: the Supreme Court has closed the Uttarakhand file; a court-appointed committee reported 67.5% of approved 2019-2024 money spent.
- State forest departments — Receive the transferred fund money for planting.
- Kutia Kondh families of Burlubaru, Odisha — Teak was planted on about 50 hectares of land to which 52 families received title in 2012.
- 84 families of Bakingia, Kandhamal — About 200 hectares planted with 40,000 saplings while their community-rights application was pending. Land Conflict Watch
- Forest land at Rajawas, Haryana, and Great Nicobar — Rajawas land was auctioned for mining the day it was protected; 130 square kilometres of Great Nicobar forest are allocated for development.
What happened
In India, a mine, dam or road that uses forest land pays for compensatory afforestation. The money goes into national and state funds set up under a 2016 law and is passed to state forest departments. The body that manages the funds is the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA). A crore is ten million.
The Forest Rights Act (2006) recognises the rights of forest-dwelling communities and gives authority to the village council (gram sabha). The 2016 law required consultation with the gram sabha, not its consent. According to Land Conflict Watch, the fund held more than 42,000 crore rupees (about 6.5 billion dollars) in 2017. In four states it recorded at least 22 conflicts covering about 100,000 hectares and about 40,000 people; in 80% of the cases the gram sabha's consent had not been obtained.
Individual cases were documented. In Burlubaru, Odisha, teak was planted on about 50 hectares belonging to 52 Kutia Kondh families who received title in 2012. In Sonakhan, Chhattisgarh, 20 hectares were fenced in, including a sacred site. In Bakingia, Kandhamal, about 40,000 saplings were planted on about 200 hectares while 84 families' community-rights application was pending; villagers said nobody had consulted them. A 2017 report by a forest-rights network found that more than 70% of 2,479 plantations in 10 states were on forest land in violation of the rules and that all 52 plantations examined in three states were on community land titled to gram sabhas.
On spending, a committee set up by the Supreme Court reported in 2025 that 26,001 crore rupees (67.5%) of the 38,516 crore approved for 2019-2024 had been spent. In Uttarakhand, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India found that fund money had been used for iPhones, laptops, refrigerators, renovation and a tiger safari. The state said the deviation was about 1.8% of 753 crore rupees and an error of judgement. On 19 March 2025 the Supreme Court described the deviations as trivial in nature and closed the file. A 2013 audit found that 7% of the area due to be planted in 2006-2012 had been planted.
In the Great Nicobar project, 130 square kilometres of tropical forest are being allocated for an airport, port, power plant and township. The compensatory planting is to take place in Haryana, about 2,400 kilometres away. In Rajawas village, 506 acres were placed under protection on 20 June 2023; the same day the state mining department auctioned a quarter of the land. The department said it did not know the land was protected forest, and the National Green Tribunal took the matter up on its own motion.
- 2006Period covered by the 2013 audit (to 2012): 7% of the area due to be planted had been planted
- 201252 Kutia Kondh families in Burlubaru, Odisha, receive title to land later planted with teak
- 2015Plantation in Bakingia, Kandhamal, Odisha, begins without consultation, per Land Conflict Watch
- 2016Law requires consultation with the gram sabha, not consent
- 2017Land Conflict Watch records at least 22 conflicts; fund above 42,000 crore rupees
- 2023Rajawas land protected on 20 June and partly auctioned for mining the same day
- 2025Supreme Court closes the Uttarakhand file on 19 March; Supreme Court committee reports 67.5% of approved money spent
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
At least 22 conflicts in four states; 80% without village council consent.
IndiaSpend / Land Conflict WatchMore than 70% of 2,479 plantations in 10 states were on forest land in violation of the rules; all 52 examined in three states were on community land.
Required consultation with the gram sabha, not its consent.
Found fund money used for iPhones, laptops, a refrigerator, renovation and a tiger safari.
LiveLawPut the deviation at about 1.8% and called it an error of judgement.
LiveLawDescribed the deviations as trivial in nature and closed the file on 19 March 2025.
LiveLawHow it looked
Shown
- Compensatory afforestation offsets forest land diverted to mines, dams and roadsIndian law and state forest departments, as described in the sources reviewed
Recorded
- At least 22 CAMPA-related conflicts in four states covering about 100,000 hectares and about 40,000 people; 80% without village council consent.
- Plantation of about 40,000 saplings on about 200 hectares in Bakingia while 84 families' community-rights application was pending.
- 26,001 of 38,516 crore rupees spent in 2019-2024 (67.5%).
- Uttarakhand: the audit found fund money used for iPhones, laptops, a refrigerator, renovation and a tiger safari; about 1.8% of 753 crore rupees; unpaid interest 275.34 crore.
- No institution or person is recorded as having paid a fine in the Uttarakhand matter.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- Uttarakhand government (2025): Said the deviation was about 1.8% of the fund and an error of judgement; said it had begun disciplinary action against some staff. · LiveLaw
- Haryana state mining department (2023): Said it did not know the land was protected forest.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2025-03-19Outcome not on recordUttarakhand CAMPA fund useSupreme Court of India · Administrative · Not stated in the sources reviewed → Uttarakhand government
The Supreme Court accepted the state's explanation, described the deviations as trivial in nature and closed the file; no penalty was imposed. LiveLaw
- 2023–Outcome not on recordRajawas land auctioned the day it was protectedNational Green Tribunal · Administrative · National Green Tribunal (own motion) → Haryana mining department
The tribunal took the matter up on its own motion after the state mining department tendered a quarter of the 506 acres on the day they were protected; no ruling is recorded in the sources reviewed.
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Court
Accounts
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed give no survival rate, species composition or biodiversity outcome for the plantations.
- None on record No court has imposed a penalty in the Uttarakhand matter; the state said it began disciplinary action against some staff.
- None on record The record shows two area figures for 2019-2024, 178,261 and 209,297 hectares, without stating which is the target.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the Government of India transferred 47,436 crore rupees to 27 states in August 2019.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a contract linked to the fund was extended three times without tender.
Did the harm stop?
No stop on record: the Supreme Court closed the Uttarakhand file on 19 March 2025, and the sources reviewed show plantings continuing in disputed areas.
Who paid?
In the documented cases, communities bore the cost: planting took place on land they held title to or had applied for, and the sources reviewed record no compensation.
Sources
Press and investigations
- India raised compensatory afforestationETV Bharat · 2025-07-28
Communities and civil society
- 6.5bn afforestation fund pitted forest departments against tribalsIndiaSpend / Land Conflict Watch · 2017-11-24
- CAMPA plantation undermines FRA in Bakingia village of KandhamalLand Conflict Watch ·
Connected cases
- Great Nicobar project compensatory afforestation (India) India · 2023–2025
- Government of Uttarakhand (Government) — here: State government; used fund money for consumer goods; there: State whose fund use the CAG examined
- Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Public authority) — here: Auditor: found misuse in Uttarakhand; 2013 audit of planting; there: Auditor that reported on the compensatory afforestation fund
- Supreme Court of India (Court) — here: Closed the Uttarakhand file on 19 March 2025; appointed committee; there: Court that closed the Uttarakhand fund file
- National Green Tribunal (India) (Court) — here: Took the Rajawas matter up on its own motion; there: Tribunal that opened a suo motu case on Rajawas
- Haryana state mining department (Public authority) — here: Auctioned part of protected land at Rajawas on 20 June 2023; there: State body that auctioned part of the Rajawas land
- Community Forest Rights-Learning and Advocacy (CFR-LA) (NGO) — here: Forest-rights network that produced the 2017 plantation report; there: Forest rights network that reported on plantations
- CAG audit finds 12 of 44 Ganga sewage plants discharge untreated water India · date not stated
- Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Public authority) — here: Auditor: found misuse in Uttarakhand; 2013 audit of planting; there: audit body that found the untreated discharge
- CAG found delays in 26 of 46 Namami Gange schemes in 2017 India · 2017–2026
- Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Public authority) — here: Auditor: found misuse in Uttarakhand; 2013 audit of planting; there: Auditor that found delays and untreated discharges
- Expert panel says hydropower amplified 2013 Uttarakhand flood India · 2013
- Supreme Court of India (Court) — here: Closed the Uttarakhand file on 19 March 2025; appointed committee; there: halted 24 hydropower schemes
- India's Supreme Court ordered evictions of about 1.18 million families, then stayed them India · 2008
- Supreme Court of India (Court) — here: Closed the Uttarakhand file on 19 March 2025; appointed committee; there: Ordered the evictions, then stayed its order
- India's Supreme Court recalls environmental ruling at developers' request India · date not stated
- Supreme Court of India (Court) — here: Closed the Uttarakhand file on 19 March 2025; appointed committee; there: Court that recalled the ruling
- MV Rak Carrier coal and oil spill (Mumbai) India · 2011–2016
- National Green Tribunal (India) (Court) — here: Took the Rajawas matter up on its own motion; there: Tribunal that found the ship not seaworthy and ordered payments
- Thoothukudi Sterlite copper smelter protest shooting India · 2018–2024
- Supreme Court of India (Court) — here: Closed the Uttarakhand file on 19 March 2025; appointed committee; there: Court that dismissed Vedanta's appeal and review petition