Ahmedabad, Feb. 11 -- Gujarat has topped the country in the number of proposals approved for diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes during the last five financial years. According to an official reply given in the Rajya Sabha on February 5 to an unstarred question by MP Sanjay Singh, Gujarat had 1,560 proposals cleared under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2025. This is the highest figure among all states and union territories. Haryana followed with 1,424 approvals, Uttar Pradesh with 1,188, Punjab with 1,067, and Madhya Pradesh with 902. In total, 10,026 proposals were approved across the country during this period, while only 120 were rejected.

The Minister of State f...