Odisha receives Rs 5933.98 crore CAMPA Fund

New Delhi: In a major boost towards promotion of afforestation, Odisha received the highest Rs 5933.98 crore of CAMPA Fund in the country.

The Centre on Thursday released Rs 5933.98 crore of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) fund to the state.

Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh got Rs 5,100 crore each.

Odisha Forest and Environment minister Bikram Keshri Arakhu received the cheque of Rs 5933.98 crore from Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javedekar.

Odisha’s efforts in creating new forest and conserving existing forest was praised in the State Forest & Environment Ministers conference, held here at the Prayabaran Bhawan, under the chairmanship of the Union Minister.

“The State budget for forests shall remain unaffected and the fund being transferred would be in addition to State Budget and it is expected that all States will utilize this fund towards forestry activities to achieve the objectives of the Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs) of increasing its forest and tree cover, which will create an additional carbon sink equivalent to 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by the year 2030,” said Javadekar.

Odisha, which is the fourth largest State so far as forest cover is concerned, has increased its forest coverage by adding 885 square km of forest during the last two years by afforestation and forest protected measures.

The State had received Rs 2,644 crore in 9 years between 2009-10 and 2017-18. Out of this, the State had already utilised Rs 2,607 crore or 92% of the fund received by now.