ISB-BIPP, Himachal Pradesh Govt sign five-year MoU to boost forest economy
Shimla, Aug 20 (TNT): The Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business (ISB-BIPP) on Thursday signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department (HPFD) to promote technology-led forest governance and help unlock an estimated ₹22,600 crore in untapped forest economy potential in the state.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
The partnership seeks to integrate data science, artificial intelligence, satellite mapping and field-level data to strengthen forest resource management, while providing a framework that could be adopted by other states.
“This places Himachal Pradesh among the first states in the country to bring together science, communities, and government for forest governance,” Sukhu said.
Prof Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, BIPP, ISB, said the initiative was built on extensive field-level data collection.
“Over 500 forest guards spent months gathering this data, giving our estimates real credibility,” he said.
Under the initiative titled ‘Counting Green Wealth’, more than 500 forest guards trained on protocols designed by ISB-BIPP collected over two lakh tree-level records and species-tagged images.
The data was integrated with satellite mapping and AI and machine learning tools to assess forest resources and identify sustainable extraction limits.
The study covered seven key species — Khair, Bamboo, Chir Pine, Amla, wild Mango, Sal and Rhododendron — and estimated an overall untapped value of ₹22,600 crore across five bio-resources.
Amla accounted for an estimated ₹8,700 crore, followed by 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 findings have already been incorporated into the working plan for the Palampur Forest Division, providing an example of academic research being directly applied to state-level forest planning.
Under the five-year MoU, ISB-BIPP will expand the technology and data-driven framework across Himachal Pradesh, with a focus on expanding digital infrastructure, strengthening data-driven pastoral governance, empowering local communities and building institutional capacity.
Dr Aarushi Jain, Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB, said the initiative had moved beyond research and was already influencing government planning.
“The data doesn’t stop at a report. It’s already shaping Palampur’s working plan, and this MoU extends that intelligence layer, and the grazing database, State-wide,” she said.
The partnership is expected to strengthen scientific management of natural resources while creating new economic opportunities for forest-dependent communities and establishing a technology-driven model for forest governance that can be scaled across India.
TNT KS
