New Delhi: State governments will get Rs.5,000 crore grants over the next five years for not cutting trees and maintaining ecological balance, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said Monday.
"States suffer loss of revenues because of ban on felling of trees due to ecological and environmental reasons," Ramesh said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
"To compensate such losses of revenue to various state/Union Territories governments, the 13th Finance Commission has provided grants-in-aid of Rs.5,000 crore for a period of five years from 2010-11 to 2014-15," he said.
With Rs.727.84 crore grants-in-aid in the next five years, Arunachal Pradesh will be the biggest beneficiary of the scheme, followed by Madhya Pradesh, with Rs.490.32 crore and Chhattisgarh, with Rs.411.12 crore aid.
The grants-in-aid will be spread out over the next five years. During the current fiscal the total grants for this purpose will be Rs.625 crore, followed by the same amount in 2011-12.
Annual grants-in-aid totalling Rs.1,250 crore will be provided for the remaining three years -- 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15.
IANS
First Published: Monday, November 29, 2010, 19:15