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The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has received a modest budget increase for the financial year 2024-25. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of Rs 3,330.37 crore for the ministry during the Union Budget presented on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, an increase of Rs 93.25 crore from the Rs 3,231.02 crore earmarked in the previous fiscal.
Notably, the allocation has only slightly increased from the interim budget presented earlier this year. In February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented an interim budget that estimated MoEF&CC expenditure at Rs 3,265.53 crore for 2024-25.
The Centre has more than doubled the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s budget to Rs 35 crore, up from Rs 15.8 crore in 2023-24. Among other statutory and regulatory bodies, the Central Pollution Control Board’s budget has been increased to Rs 113 crore from Rs 105.70 crore.
More funds have been pumped in for pollution control, with Rs 858.5 crore for 2024-25 compared with Rs 847 crore for the previous fiscal year. The National Coastal Mission has also seen a 6.7 crore increase in funding, from Rs 43.3 to Rs 50 crore.
There has also been a marginal increase in budgets for the Central Zoo Authority (Rs 12 crore from Rs 9.9 crore), the National Biodiversity Authority (to Rs 16 crore from Rs 14.1 crore) and the Commission for Air Quality Management (to Rs 16 crore from Rs 13.1 crore).
The GB Pant Himalayan Institute of Environment and Development’s funding also increased from Rs 32 crore to Rs 35 crore.
However, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education received a reduction in funding to Rs 300 crore from Rs 483.23 crore. The Indian Institute of Forest Management’s budget was also cut, falling to Rs 13 crore from Rs 17.25 crore.
For 2024-25, no funds have been allocated for matters related to the Bhopal gas leak disaster, which totalled Rs 126.09 crore in the previous fiscal year.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Forest Plantation Development Corporation, which had a budget of Rs 3.62 crore last year, received no funds in this budget. For the second year in a row, the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) received no funding. The institution received Rs 9 crore in 2022-23.
A significant increase in fund allocation is seen under the National Mission for a Green India, which includes Rs 170 crore, up Rs 50 crore from the previous year under Transfer to Sovereign Green Fund.
The Green India Mission-National Afforestation Programme also saw an increase from Rs 119.43 crore to Rs 170 crore between 2023-24 and 2024-25.
However, allocation for biodiversity conservation increased to just Rs 5 crore from Rs 3.5 crore in 2023-24 to 2024-25.
The government has allocated Rs 43.50 crore for the conservation of natural resources and ecosystems, up from Rs 25 crore in the previous fiscal year.
Funding for wildlife habitat development has increased from Rs 239.60 crore to Rs 290 crore, which includes the externally aided projects component.
The central government has increased funds for assisting state governments in green matters. In comparison to the revised figures for 2023-24, the allocation has increased to 576.58 crore from Rs 430.48 crore. The Union territories have also received an increase, to Rs 14 crore from Rs 1.5 crore.
Offices and establishments such as the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau have also received increased funding, to Rs 13.50 crore from Rs 12.35 crore.
The National Green Tribunal, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Botanical Survey of India, and Zoological Survey of India have all seen an increase in funding as well.