The Centre will spend 46 thousand crore rupees to improve the quality of forests and forest cover in the country in next 10 years. The government has said that it will launch a Green India Mission next year.

The mission has been already approved by the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change and is one of eight missions under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change. Speaking on the occasion of World Environment Day yesterday in New Delhi, the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh said that the mission envisages implementation of forestry programmes through gram sabha institutions.

Speaking to reporters later after releasing report- forests in a green economy, Mr Ramesh said that the initiative will help increase the quantity and quality of 10 million hectares of forest area.

Mr Ramesh also informed that by January 2013, the government will be in a position of real time monitoring of forests.