# India’s forests worth $2.5 trillion annually, study finds 2026-08-20T14:58:37+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India's forests provide ecosystem services worth $2.5 trillion per year, according to a new study published in Environmental and Sustainability Indicators. The per-hectare value of these benefits is about $31,000 annually, with tropical dry deciduous forests offering the highest economic value at $703 billion per year. Ecosystem services include provisioning (timber, food, medicinal plants), regulating (carbon sequestration, soil protection), cultural (recreation, sacred groves), and supporting services (habitats for species). The study, led by M. Balasubramanian of the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru, used a meta-regression analysis of 45 studies conducted in India between 2000 and 2024. It found that provisioning, regulating, and cultural services are worth about $9.64 billion, $12.15 billion, and $17.17 billion annually, respectively. The researchers note that forests have often been undervalued in development planning because their benefits are not reflected in conventional economic indicators. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The $2.5 trillion figure underscores how national accounting that ignores natural capital can lead to underinvestment in conservation. India's Forest Survey reports a net increase in forest cover, but quality and biodiversity remain concerns. The study's meta-regression approach helps standardise patchy valuation data, but its real test will be whether state forest departments and the environment ministry use such numbers in cost-benefit analyses for infrastructure projects. The next step is seeing if the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change incorporates these valuations into its compensatory afforestation and forest clearance decisions. ## Coverage - india.mongabay.com Straight reporting of study findings with expert quotes, no editorial slant. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Institute of Social and Economic Change, M. Balasubramanian Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/indias-forests-worth-2-5-trillion-annually-study-finds/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/indias-forests-worth-2-5-trillion-annually-study-finds/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/