Economics of wastelands afforestation in India, a review

Abstract

India has vast tracts of waste lands. Afforestation of these wastelands is one of the many alternative uses of such lands. Given the scarcity of capital in India, it becomes imperative to determine the economics and financial feasibility of wastelands afforestation projects. The studies reviewed in this paper deal with cost and financial feasibilty analysis of wastelands afforestation projects in India. The main ratinale behind this review is to examine the prospects of increasing investments in the afforstation projects. This also has a global significance, since afforestation augments carbon sequestration, which has become an exigency in view of extenalities associated with global warming. The study uses review of existing literature and regression analysis as analytical tools. The review reveals that reclamation of watelands through afforestation is not an expensive ventures in India. Afforestation projects are financially viable even when no environmenal benefits ar taken into cons...