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Deals on paper

The salient features of the new government scheme which would allow paper plantations to stay on degraded forests are:

The selection of the project area shall be done jointly by the forest department, Forest Development Corporations (FDC), and the industries/entrepreneurs. Only degraded forests of less than 10 per cent average density will be selected and the minimum area of a plot shall be 100 hectares or more as may be decided by the states.

All fund required for afforestation will be made available by the industry/entrepreneurs. However, Central government, as well as state governments including FDCs, may assist the industry/entrepreneurs in obtaining credit from the concerned financial institution on reasonable terms.

The initial agreement period shall be of 30 years. There will be a clause for renewal for a further period of upto 30 years.

Twenty per cent of each plot will be the forest department's property and would be afforested with species determined by the state forest department in consultation with local village community.

A Technical Management Committee responsible for species selection, spacing and harvesting cycle will be formed with 50 per cent representation from state governments/FDCs and 50 per cent from the firm.

All arrangements will be worked out through a Memorandum of Understanding between the user industry and the FDC.

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