Himachal Pradesh Forest Department Signs MoU with ISB-BIPP to Unlock ₹22,600 Crore Forest Economy

Key facts

• The Himachal Pradesh Forest Department signed a five-year MoU with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business (ISB-BIPP) to unlock the state's estimated ₹22,600 crore forest and pastoral economy potential.
• The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
• The joint forest inventory collected over 2 lakh tree-level records and species-tagged images, with participation from more than 500 forest guards.
• The inventory identified untapped value of five bio-resources: amla at ₹8,700 crore, pine needles at ₹5,500 crore, wild mangoes at ₹4,800 crore, sal seeds at ₹2,400 crore, and rhododendron flowers at ₹1,200 crore.
• The MoU covers four areas: development of forest economies and community enterprises, creation of a Forest Intelligence Platform, development of a grazing portal and pastoral database, and training and capacity building for Forest Department personnel and producer companies.
• The Forest Intelligence Platform will be piloted in Palampur, and the grazing portal will be developed under the Himachal Pradesh Grazing Policy, 2026, with linkages to Aadhaar, Him Pariwar, Bharat Pashudhan, and the PEHEL scheme.