India’s Paper Industry Push for Easing Forest Rules

Should Eased Forest Rules for the Paper Industry Raise Alarm?

On January 28, 2026, amendments to the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 2023, previously known as the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, came into effect. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has reclassified commercial plantations as “forestry activities,” exempting them from Net Present Value (NPV) payments and mandatory compensatory afforestation obligations. For India’s struggling paper industry, this regulatory shift offers welcome relief—but for environmentalists, it evokes deep skepticism about whether ease of business can truly coexist with ecological integrity.

The need for intervention in the paper sector is undeniable. Domestic wood availability hovers around 9 million tonnes annually, while the industry's demand exceeds 11 million tonnes. Almost half of India’s 900 paper and pulp mills remain shut, primarily due to inadequate access to raw materials. Coupled with rising import dependence, especially from ASEAN nations, the industry has long been lobbying for easier access to forest land for commercial plantations. Yet, does reducing regulatory guardrails risk undermining the ecological services that forests provide?

How the Amendments Reshape Institutional and Policy Architecture

Central to the amendments under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 2023 are three legal pivots:

• Legal Reclassification of Commercial Plantations: Plantations are now considered as “forestry activities,” removing them from the purview of compensatory afforestation obligations.
• Exemptions from Payments: Companies leasing forest land for plantations no longer need to pay Net Present Value (NPV), a levy reflecting the economic value of ecosystem services lost due to forest diversion.
• Streamlined Approval Mechanisms: State-approved “Working Plans” will suffice, eliminating the need for prior Union-level clearance, provided plantation activities are monitored by forest departments.

These changes mirror an increasing alignment between regulatory frameworks and private sector demands. The amendments offer flexibility for private entities to lease forest land under guidelines specified by the central government—effectively outsourcing afforestation and wood production responsibilities without direct ecological accountability.

Between Policy Ambitions and Ground-Level Realities

This is not the first time regulatory relaxations have tried to unburden industries while overlooking environmental complexities. Eucalyptus-based plantations, once proposed as a major agroforestry solution in the 1980s and 1990s, were met with backlash for causing soil degradation and water depletion. The proposed exemptions under the recent amendments risk repeating this pattern, especially if monoculture plantations dominate under the guise of forestry activities. While approximately 500,000 farmers already cultivate plantation species such as eucalyptus and poplar across 1.2 million hectares, expanding such models onto leased forest lands could further impact biodiversity.

The gap between legislative intent and ecological execution is particularly stark. For instance, the exemption from NPV payments implies that commercial ventures can avoid contributing financially to the regeneration of ecosystems lost due to forest diversion. Additionally, while central oversight has weakened, state-level forest departments—many of which are chronically understaffed—will now shoulder increased monitoring responsibilities. This administrative decentralization raises real concerns about capacity constraints and uneven implementation across states.

Learning from Brazil: A Concrete Comparative Lens

Brazil’s approach to balancing industrial wood demand against ecological safeguards offers a pointed counterpoint. Under its Forest Code, commercial plantations are permitted, but only on lands that do not exceed a threshold of 80 percent deforestation

Further, Brazil has significantly invested in recycled fibre for paper production—representing a sharp deviation from India, where just 18-20 percent of paper is wood-based. Without equivalent investment in recycling infrastructure, India’s paper industry risks placing increased pressure on forest ecosystems, undermining sustainable forestry narratives.

The Critical Friction: Business Ease vs Environmental Accountability

The structural tensions in India’s policy reveal a familiar pattern of prioritizing industrial growth at the expense of ecologically sound practices. The amendments rest on assumptions that plantations can replicate natural forests in terms of ecosystem services—a contested claim. Monoculture plantations lack the diversity needed to sustain wildlife populations, alter local hydrological cycles, and contribute minimally to carbon sequestration compared to old-growth forests. The irony is stark: promoting wood-based industrial expansion alongside a legally binding obligation to increase India's forest cover to 33 percent under the National Forest Policy, 1988 creates contradictory pressures on policymaking.

What Success Could Actually Look Like

Success depends on strategic restrictions and precise metrics:

• Restrict plantations: Limit commercial plantations to degraded and open forest lands, avoiding ecologically sensitive areas like those categorized under the Forest Survey of India’s "very dense forest" classification.
• Promote agroforestry: Expand farmer-led agroforestry systems using diversified species, rather than relying solely on cash crops with limited ecological utility.
• Transparent monitoring mechanisms: Enable a central database tracking plantation activity vis-a-vis ecological outcomes—biodiversity richness, soil health indices, and reforestation success.

Moreover, India must scale up its recycling infrastructure to emulate those of leading paper-producing nations. A policy roadmap that balances wood-based production with environmental safeguards could unlock solutions, but without stronger ecological oversight the revised rules might compromise more than they restore.

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