Full Text
REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99
The Gazette of India
C.G. DL-E-31082025-265835
EXTRAORDINARY
PART II-Section 3-Sub-section (i)
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
NEW DELHI, SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2025
No. 549]
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 31st August, 2025
G.S.R. 593(E). — In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Van
(Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, the Central Government hereby makes the following
rules, further to amend the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023, namely: -
1. (1) These rules may be called the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Amendment Rules, 2025.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules), in
rule 2, in sub-rule (1), –
(i) after clause (k), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:-
'(ka) "final or Stage-II approval" means the prior approval of the Central Government
granted under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam after receipt of satisfactory
compliance report of the conditions stipulated in the in-principle or Stage-I approval from
the State Government;
(kb) "in-principle or Stage-I approval" means the preliminary approval of the Central
Government to allow the use of forest land for a given purpose specified under sub-section
(1) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam subject to the compliance of conditions stipulated therein;';
(ii) for clause (v), the following clause shall be substituted, namely: -
“(v) “working permission" means permission granted to linear projects after in-principle or
Stage -I approval to mobilise resources or to commence the preliminary project works other
than black topping and concretisation of roads, laying of railway tracks, charging of
transmission lines, etc. or as specified by the Central Government.”.
3. In the said rules, in rule 4, –
(i) after sub-rule (3), the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely: -
"(3A) A non-official Member may resign from his office at any time by giving notice thereof in
writing, to the Central Government, and the seat of that Member shall thereupon become vacant.”;
(ii) in sub-rule (4), for the words, brackets and letters “clauses (b) and (c)”, the words, brackets,
figures and letter “sub-rules (2), (3) and (3A)” shall be substituted.
4. In the said rules, in rule 6, sub-rule (5) shall be re-numbered as rule 6A and in rule 6A as so
renumbered, –
(i) after sub-rule (3), the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely: -
"(3A) A non-official member of the Committee may resign from his office at any time by
communicating the same in writing, to the Central Government, and the seat of that member shall
thereupon become vacant.";
(ii) in sub-rule (4) for the words, brackets and figures “(2) and (3)", the brackets, figures, word
and letter "(2), (3) and (3A)” shall be substituted.
5. In the said rules, in rule 9, -
(i) in sub rule (1), for the brackets, letters and words “(i) In-Principle' approval; and ' (ii) Final'
approval, the brackets, letters and words “(i) in-principle or Stage -I approval” and “(ii) final or
Stage-II approval” shall be substituted;
(ii) in sub-rule (2), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely: –
"Provided that for projects related to defence, strategic and national importance, exceptional
cases related to public interest or emergent nature, the user agency may be permitted to submit
an application for prior approval through offline mode.".
6. In the said rules, in rule 10, for sub-rule (10), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“(10) The State Government or the Union territory Administration, if so desire, after obtaining the
'in-principle or Stage-I approval' of linear project proposals and deposition of compensatory levies
such as compensatory afforestation and Net Present Value and cost of mitigation plans such as
Wildlife Management Plan and Soil and Moisture Conservation Plan, as applicable, transfer and
effect mutation of land identified for raising compensatory afforestation as forest land in favour of
the Forest Department or notify the land identified for raising compensatory afforestation as
protected forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or local Act, as the case may be, and
on compliance of the provisions of other applicable statutes including the Scheduled Tribe and Other
Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (2 of 2007), may grant 'working
permission' for the commencement of project work before grant of final or Stage-II approval.".
7. In the said rules, in rule 11, –
(i) in sub-rule (9), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely: –
"Provided that for projects related to defence, strategic and national importance, exceptional
cases related to public interest or emergent nature, the user agency may be permitted to
submit an application for prior approval through offline mode.";
(ii) in sub-rule (10), –
(a) for the words “the ‘two years, the In-Principle' approval shall be deemed null and
void", the words “five years, the in-principle or Stage -I approval may be revoked by
the Central Government", shall be substituted;
(b) in the proviso, for the words “Provided that the Central Government" the following
shall be substituted, namely:
"Provided that the Central Government may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing,
extend the validity of in-principal or Stage -I approval for such period as it deems fit, if
it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the State Government
or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, from submitting the compliance
report within the stipulated period of five years:
Provided further that the Central Government".
8. In the said rules, in rule 12, in sub-rule (3), –
(i) for the word "Adiniyam”, the word "Adhiniyam" shall be substituted;
(ii) in sub-rule (3), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely: -
"Provided that the approval for the period during which work was carried out in the forest area
without an approved Working Plan or Working Scheme, shall be dealt and disposed of by the
concerned Regional Office in consultation with the Regional Empowered Committee.”.
9. In the said rules, in rule 13, –
(i) in sub-rule (3) for the words "prior to 'Final' approval", the following shall be substituted,
namely:-
"or transferred and mutated as forest land in favour of the Forest Department by the State
Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, before the final or Stage -
II approval is granted under the Adhiniyam;";
(ii) in sub-rule (4), –
(a) for clause (c), the following clause shall be substituted, namely: –
"(c) aerial cabling of telephone, optical fibre lines, pipelines, and other public utility
projects with or without felling of trees not falling within the right of way of roads;";
(b) in clause (g), for the word “diversion”, the words “diversion, as the case may be;" shall be
substituted;
(c) after clause (g), the following clause shall be inserted, namely: –
"(ga) mining of Critical and Strategic Minerals, as specified in Part-D of the First
Schedule of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957
s(67 of 1957) and minerals specified by the Ministry of Mines out of the list of
minerals included in the Seventh Schedule of the Mines and Minerals
(Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957), and prescribed substance,
as defined under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962):
Provided that compensatory afforestation over degraded forest land, three times the
forest area proposed for diversion, shall be raised in respect of those minerals of
the Seventh Schedule as specified by the Ministry of Mines which are not included
in the list of Critical and Strategic Minerals as specified in Part-D of the First
Schedule of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67
of 1957) and not falling in the States and Union territory Administrations, having
forest area more than 33% of their geographical area ;";
(d) in clause (h), for the words "conservation of wildlife; and", the words “conservation of wildlife."
shall be substituted.
(iii) in sub-rule (5), clause (c) shall be omitted;
(iv) for sub-rule (6), following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“(6) In respect of proposal involving renewal of approval of mining leases, underground works
including underground mining, following provisions of raising compensatory afforestation
shall be applicable, namely: –
(i) for renewal of approval granted under the Adhiniyam to a mining lease, compensatory
afforestation shall be applicable if the same was not provided earlier;
(ii) no compensatory afforestation shall be charged in respect of underground mining
and underground works involved in the various developmental projects without surface
rights.";
10. In the said rules, in rule 14,–
(i) in sub-rule (1), for the words, figures and brackets “same shall be notified as protected
forest under section 29 of Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or under any other law for the
time being in force", the words, figures and brackets “same shall be transferred and mutated
as forest land in favour of the Forest Department or notified as protected forest under section
29 of Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or under any other law for the time being in force
by the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be," shall be
substituted;
(ii) in sub-rule (1), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely: -
"Provided that the State Government or the Union territory Administration, as the case may
be, may authorise the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force to
issue notification under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or under any local Act in
respect of compensatory afforestation land provided in lieu of diversion of forest land under
sub-rule (1) and sub-rule (3) of rule 13.";
(iii) in sub-rule (4),–
(a) for clause (a), the following clause shall be substituted, namely: -
"(a) A State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, for the
purposes of compensatory afforestation, may create a land bank of degraded forest land
having canopy density up to 0.4, Government lands, lands recorded as forest in
Government records which are either under the administrative control of Forest
Department or other Government Department or entity;
(b) after clause (c), the following clause shall be inserted, namely: -
“(d) With a view to ensure identification of land for raising compensatory afforestation in
a time bound manner, afforestation raised by the Government Department or any other
entity over degraded forest lands, revenue forest lands or non-forest lands under any
schemes, programme or policies of the Central Government, may be utilised to meet the
requirement of raising compensatory afforestation by the Government Department
or its agencies or by any other entities, as admissible under rule 13 and subject to such
terms and conditions as may be specified by the Central Government for this purpose.";
(iv) in sub-rule (5),–
(a) in clause (b), for the word “Ahiniyam”, the word “Adhiniyam”, shall be substituted;
(b) in clause (g), after the words "being in force", the words “or transferred and mutated
as forest land in favour of the Forest Department by the State Government or Union
territory Administration, as the case may be," shall be inserted;
11. In the said rules, for rule 15, the following rule shall be substituted, namely: –
"15. Proceedings against persons guilty of offences under Adhiniyam.– (1) With effect from
such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint in
this behalf, officer holding the rank of Divisional Forest Officer or Deputy Conservator of
Forests or above in the State Government or Union territory Administration or an officer
holding the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Forests or above in the Regional Office
of the Central Government, having jurisdiction over the forest land in respect of which any
offence under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 (69 of 1980) is
committed or violation of the provisions of the Adhiniyam has been made, shall initiate legal
proceedings and file complaints against such person, authority or organisation, prima-facie
found guilty of offence under the said Adhiniyam or the violation of the rules made
thereunder, in the court having jurisdiction in the matter.
(2) The Central Government or the Regional Offices under the Central Government, after
receiving the information with respect to offence committed or violations made, shall, after
examination, communicate the same to the State Government or Union territory
Administration and the authorities concerned under whose jurisdiction the offence under the
Adhiniyam has been committed or any provision of the said Adhiniyam has been violated,
for filing the complaint against the offenders before the court having jurisdiction within a
period of forty five days from the receipt of such communication.
(3) The State Government or the Union territories Administration and authorities concerned
shall submit a periodic report to Regional Office regarding the details of complaints filed
under sub-rule (2).
(4) The officer authorised by the Central Government in sub-rule (1) may require any officer
or any person or any other authority of the State Government or Union territory
Administration, as the case may be, to furnish to it within a specified period any reports,
documents, and any other information related to contravention of the Adhiniyam or the rules
made thereunder, considered necessary for making a complaint in any court of jurisdiction
and every such officer or person or authority shall be bound to so furnish.
12. In the said rules, in Schedule-I, -
(i) against the entry "Site inspections by DCF/CF/Nodal Officer", for the figures "20"
occurring under the column heading “40 to 100*”, the figure ‘5' shall be substituted;
(ii) against sub-item “Processing by Nodal Officer/PCCF", for the figures "15" occurring
under the column heading “40 to 100*", the figures “10” shall be substituted;
(iii) against the entry “Total (A+C)”, –
(a) for the figures "85" occurring under the column heading “Up to 5*", the figures
"80" shall be substituted;
(b) for the figures “160” occurring under the column heading "40 to 100*", the
figures "130" shall be substituted;
13. In the said rules, in Schedule-II, –
(i) against sl. No. 4, in the entries under column 2, for the words “twenty years", the words
“at least ten years" shall be substituted;
(ii) against sl. No. 5, in the entries under column 2, for the words “twenty years", the words
"at least ten years" shall be substituted.
[F. No. FC- 11/104/2025-FC]
R. RAGHU PRASAD, Inspector General of Forests
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and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.