India, Feb. 7 -- India's total mangrove cover stands at 4,991.68 square kilometres (sq km), making up 0.15 per cent of the country's total geographical area as per India State of Forest Report 2023 (ISFR 2023), Kirti Vardhan Singh, minister of state in the Union Ministry of External Affairs told the Rajya Sabha on February 6, 2025.

West Bengal has the highest mangrove coverage, accounting for 42.45 per cent, followed by Gujarat at 23.66 per cent and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands at 12.39 per cent.

The mangrove cover in Gujarat has increased by 253.06 sq km between 2001 and 2023, as per ISFR 2023. The effective implementation of regulatory and promotional measures has yielded an increase in mangrove cover in Gujarat, Singh added.

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