India lagging on Adaptation Fund programmes: Economic Survey

New Delhi, Jan 31 Of the 30 sanctioned projects under National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change, important in view of increasing resilience, two have closed down while 28 are still going on much beyond the initial target time, the Economic Survey 2021-22 said.

"Of the 30 sanctioned projects under NAFCC, two projects - in Haryana and one regional project (covering Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) - have closed down," it said.

The programme was launched in August 2015 to meet the cost of adaptation to climate change for the state and Union Territories that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and projects with a total allocation of Rs 847.5 crore have been sanctioned from 2015-19.

This is an important Fund as India's climate actions, especially the adaptation efforts are largely financed domestically. Twelve projects were sanctioned in 2015-16, nine in 2016-17, six in 2017-18, and three in 2018-19 with funding ranging Rs 150 crore to Rs 250 crore.

Among the 28 projects across 26 states, two projects are in Tamil Nadu and one multi-state project covers Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Telangana.

The projects focus on climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, forestry as well as the coastal and Himalayan ecosystem, and are being implemented to enhance the adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable sections of our population and ecosystems.

A budgetary provision of Rs 350 crore for the year 2015-16 and 2016-17 was made with an estimated requirement of Rs 181.5 crore for financial year 2017-18 for the fund. The projects under it prioritise the needs that build climate resilience in the areas identified under the SAPCC (State Action Plan on Climate Change) and the relevant Missions under NAPCC (National Action Plan on Climate Change).