Nagar Van Yojana (2025); Ministry Of Environment, Forest & Climate Change

Policy Update
Atharva Salunke

Background:

India’s forests provide the first line of defence against agricultural and industrial pollution. Hence, intense policy interventions are needed to conserve and expand the forest cover of the country in view of fast-tracking climate change. Urbanization, an international phenomenon, has resulted in uncontained urban growth, causing degradation of natural resources and quality of the environment.

About two-thirds of the world population is likely to reside in urban centers by the year 2025, putting a huge strain on green spaces. In India, aggressive urbanization has tremendously decreased urban green cover, bridging the gap between humans and nature and negatively affecting ecological balance, economic stability, and public health.

As a response, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has given highest priority to the improvement in quality and cover of forest to maximize carbon stock and mitigate the adverse effects of urbanization. The Yojana was first brought out as a Pilot Scheme in 2020, after the changes made to the previous Nagar Van Udyan Scheme of 2015. T

he Revised Nagar Van Yojana has the goal of promoting 400 Nagar Vans and 200 Nagar Vatikas in urban areas, thus increasing tree cover outside forests and adding to urban biodiversity. The wider vision is to create 1,000 Nagar Vans/Nagar Vatikas in cities with Municipal Corporations, Councils, or Urban Local Bodies. This project aims to create a healthy, wholesome living space, advancing cleaner, greener, and more sustainable cities along with a better quality of urban life.

The salient features of Nagar Van Yojana are:

1. Creating green space and aesthetic environment in an urban set up.
2. Creating awareness about plants and biodiversity and developing environment stewardship.
3. Facilitating in-situ conservation of important flora of the region.
4. Contributing to environmental improvement of cities by pollution mitigation, providing cleaner air, noise reduction, water harvesting and reduction of heat islands effect.
5. Extending health benefits to residents of the city and
6. Helping cities become climate resilient.

Functioning:

The Nagar Van Yojana (NVY) is proposed to be implemented over five years (2020-21 to 2024-25), with a target to develop Nagar Vans and Nagar Vatikas across cities with Municipal Corporations, Councils, or Municipalities. A Nagar Van will cover 10-50 ha within 5 km of municipal limits, while a Nagar Vatika will span 1-10 ha within city limits. The scheme focuses on utilizing forest or other vacant public lands to enhance vegetation density through locally suitable species, thereby protecting degraded or encroached lands.

The scheme promotes multi-agency participation, allowing Forest Departments, Urban Local Bodies, educational institutions, NGOs, and corporate entities to collaboratively develop and manage green spaces. People’s participation is encouraged through community plantation drives and innovative concepts such as Panchvati, Aushadhi Vatika, Nakshatra Van, and Oxyzones, fostering a sense of ownership.

Financially, the Ministry provides a one-time grant of up to ₹2 crore for 50 ha, with additional costs met by implementing agencies. Funds are released through State Forest Departments and maintained in interest-bearing accounts, subject to annual audits. Development focuses on fencing, plantation, water facilities, theme gardens, public conveniences, jogging tracks, and information centres. This holistic model aims to create sustainable urban green spaces through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and participatory approach.

Performance:

The implementation of the Nagar Van Yojana (NVY) illustrates comprehensive country-wide implementation. Up to February 2025, 544 projects have been sanctioned in 324 cities involving a total area of 15,625.73 ha. As many as 728 proposals were submitted, with a sanctioned cost of ₹56,647.65 lakhs and ₹43,263.19 lakhs disbursed.

Andhra Pradesh takes the highest approved area (3,203.41 ha) and 61 projects, followed by Madhya Pradesh (1,983.62 ha, 65 projects) and Telangana (1,690.6 ha, 63 projects). Karnataka, Odisha, and Nagaland states have also demonstrated impressive participation. Uttar Pradesh leads in number of projects approved (36) after Andhra Pradesh.

This general adoption reflects active state engagement and efficient coverage of the scheme. Yet, differences in project sanction and utilization of funds between states reflect the necessity for reinforced implementation processes and monitoring in ensuring similar progress.

Table 1: State-wise details of Nagar Van Yojana (NVY)

Impact:

The execution of the Nagar Van Yojana has progressed urban ecological recovery by expanding greenery and developing reachable natural spots for inhabitants. Spanning more than 15,000 hectares, the program has enhanced air quality, biodiversity, and urban beauty, while minimizing the adverse impacts of urbanization. With participatory measures engaging local communities, schools, NGOs, and ULBs, the scheme has increased public involvement in environmental conservation. Thematic plantation and recreational infrastructures created have enhanced the human–nature interface, increased climate adaptation capacity, and resulted in healthier, more sustainable urban lifestyle environments in several Indian states.

Emerging Issues:

In spite of its positive effects, the Nagar Van Yojana is confronted with a number of emerging challenges. One such challenge is the poor integration of green spaces into urban design, which constrains the development of inclusive urban spaces that integrate communities with nature.

Most cities have no particular strategy in place to integrate tree spaces and ecological features into their planning initiatives. Moreover, there lacks technical skills and institutional capacity, with few local capacity-building efforts. This creates gaps in project planning, implementation, and long-term management, which impact the effectiveness and sustainability of urban afforestation projects.

Way Forward:

It is advised that a master plan for every Urban Local Body (ULB) be formulated to purposefully incorporate green spaces in urban planning. There should be expert monitoring mechanisms at national and state levels to provide technical advice, monitoring, and accountability. There also needs to be specialist recruitment of urban planners, ecologists, landscape designers, and forestry specialists to fill capacity gaps. These steps will enhance institutional mechanisms and improve quality and longevity of urban green projects under the Nagar Van Yojana.

References:

1. Press Information Bureau. (2023, August 7). Nagar Van Yojana. PIB Delhi. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1946406
2. Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change. (n.d.). Implementation guidelines: Nagar Van Yojana (NVY). Government of India. https://moef.gov.in/uploads/2017/06/Implementation-Guidlines-Nager-Van-Yojana.pdf
3. Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. (2025, August 7). Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2159. https://sansad.in/getFile/annex/268/AU2159_9ydT6h.pdf?source=pqars
4. Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. (2023, August 7). Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2867. https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/1712/AU2867.pdf?source=pqals
5. Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. (2025, February 10). Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 936.  https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/184/AU936_50zNvG.pdf?source=pqals

About the Contributor:

Atharva Salunke is a Policy Research Associate at NITI TANTRA and a Research Intern at IMPRI. He has recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Sir Parashurambhau College, Pune.

Acknowledgement: The author extends his sincere gratitude to the IMPRI team and Ms. Aasthaba Jadeja for her invaluable guidance throughout the process.

Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.

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