The Congress on Wednesday alleged that amendments made to the Forest (Conservation) Act in 2023 have effectively opened the door to the privatisation of forest management in India. The party claimed that recent policy decisions by the Centre indicate a fundamental shift away from public stewardship of forests, with long-term consequences for conservation and governance.

Congress general secretary and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh said the amendments—passed in August 2023 and rechristened as the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980—introduced sweeping changes to the legal architecture regulating forests. He argued that these changes diluted safeguards that had governed forest use for decades and had triggered concerns about commercial interests entering forest management.

Ramesh pointed to a circular issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on January 2, 2026, which amends guidelines related to the leasing of forest land. The circular permits assisted natural regeneration, afforestation and plantation activities to be undertaken for purposes mutually agreed upon between state governments and government or non-government entities, subject to approved working or management plans and supervision by state forest departments.

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According to the circular, such activities will be treated as forestry operations, thereby exempting them from requirements such as compensatory afforestation and payment of net present value. It also grants state governments the flexibility to establish their own frameworks for the utilisation of plantations and revenue sharing, raising questions about consistency, transparency and oversight across states.

Terming the move “just the beginning,” Ramesh warned that the revised guidelines demonstrate how the amended law could gradually enable private participation in forest management. He cautioned that this approach may alter the balance between conservation and commercial use, potentially reshaping the future of forest governance in the country.

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