Bhopal, Feb. 3 -- The Madhya Pradesh government plans to hand over degraded forest land, which accounts for about 38% of the state's total forest cover, to private investors for afforestation with the right to sell 50% of the minor forest produce, a senior government official said.

Under the draft of a new policy, which will, if adopted, become the first of its kind in the country, the state plans to hand over between 10 and 1,000 hectares of forest land to private agencies for 60 years in which time they can plant species of their choice on it, trade in forest produce, excluding timber, and rate the forest for carbon sequestration to earn carbon credits.

The amended Forest Conservation Act of 2023 allows state governments to use privat...