India's environment includes some of the world's most biodiverse ecozones. The Deccan Traps, the Gangetic Plains, and the Himalayas are the main geographic regions. The country faces various forms of pollution as its main environmental issue and, as a developing country, is more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. India has laws to protect the environment and is one of the countries that has signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Treaty. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Forest Departments of each state plan and implement environmental policies across the country.
India has some of the world's most biodiverse ecozones—deserts, high mountains, highlands, tropical and temperate forests, wetlands, plains, grasslands, riverine areas, and an island archipelago. It has three biodiversity hotspots: the Western Ghats, the Himalayas, and the Indo-Burma region. These hotspots contain numerous endemic species.
In 2021, approximately 713,789 km2 of land in the country was under forest cover, 92% of which was government owned. Only 22.7% of the land was forested, compared to the 33% recommended by the National Forest Policy Resolution (1952). Most of this cover is broadleaf deciduous trees, with one-sixth being sal and one-tenth being teak. Coniferous species are found in the northern highlands and include pine, juniper, and cedar.
India has 350 species of mammals, 375 species of reptiles, 130 species of amphibians, 20,000 species of insects, 19,000 species of fish, and 1,200 species of birds. The Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, and leopard are the main predators; the country has the largest number of cat species than any other country. Elephants, Indian rhinoceroses, and eight species of deer are also found.
India has over 17,000 species of flowering plants, representing six percent of the world's total plant species. India also contains seven percent of the world's flora. India's diverse climatic conditions have contributed to a rich variety of flora. India has over 45,000 species of flora, many of which are endemic to the region. India is divided into eight main floristic regions: North-Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Indus Plain, Gangetic Plain, Deccan, Malabar and Andaman.
Geography
India lies on the Indian Plate, which is the northern part of the Indo-Australian Plate, whose continental crust forms the Indian subcontinent. The country lies north of the equator, between 8°4' and 37°6' north latitude and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude. It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,287,263 square kilometers (1,269,219 mi). India is 3,214 km (1,997 mi) long from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 mi) long from east to west. It has a land border of 15,200 km (9,445 mi) and a coastline of 7,517 km (4,671 mi).
Four observations suggest that the Indian Plate and Eurasia collided 40 to 60 million years ago. One of these is that India has no mammal fossil record prior to about 50 million years ago. On its way, the Indian Plate passed over the Reunion hotspot, triggering volcanic activity that formed the Deccan Traps. Its collision with the Eurasian Plate gave rise to the Himalayas, and continued tectonic activity continues to make it an earthquake-prone region. The Gangetic Plain was formed by the Ganges and its tributaries depositing sediment in the area between the Himalayas and the Vindhya Range. The rock formations can be divided into Archean, Proterozoic (Dharwar System), Cuddapah System, Vindhyan System, Gondwana System, the Deccan Traps, Tertiary System, Pleistocene Period, and Recent formations.
Climate encompasses a wide variety of weather conditions across a large geographic scale and varied topography, making it difficult to make generalizations. Given India's size, bordered by the Himalayas, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean, the distribution of temperature and rainfall across the subcontinent varies greatly. Based on the Köppen system, which considers average monthly temperature, average monthly precipitation, and average annual precipitation, India hosts six major climate subtypes, ranging from arid deserts in the west, alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, and humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and island regions. Many regions have distinct microclimates. The India Meteorological Department divides the seasons into four parts: winter (mid-December to mid-March), summer (mid-March to May), rainy season (June to September), and the retreating monsoon season (October to mid-December).
Issues
Pollution is one of the major environmental issues in India.
Water pollution is a major concern in the country. The main sources of water pollution are domestic, industrial, agricultural, and shipping wastewater. The largest source of water pollution in India is untreated sewage. Other sources of pollution include agricultural runoff and unregulated small-scale industries. Most rivers, lakes, and surface water are polluted.
Land Pollution: The main causes of soil (or land) pollution are soil erosion, excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, accumulation of solid and liquid waste, forest fires, and waterlogging. This can be reduced by judicious use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and by treating wastewater before use for irrigation. Due to a growing population and increasing consumption of food grains, more and more rain-fed croplands are being irrigated using ground and surface water. Irrigated land is gradually losing its fertility, turning into saline, alkaline soil.
Air pollution is another concern in the country. A major source of this is matter emitted from the burning of fossil fuels. Particles in the air, such as soot, smoke, and dust, can be harmful depending on the chemical and physical composition of the pollutants. They can affect the climate and reduce the scattering of solar radiation in the atmosphere.
Noise pollution: This can be described as a state of discomfort or stress caused by unwanted high-intensity sound. It increases in proportion to urbanization and industrialization.
Circular Economy and Waste Management
India is on the path to adopting circular economy techniques to address the growing challenges of waste management in a growing country. The country generates approximately 62 million tons of solid waste annually, of which only 75% is collected and 20% is processed. In an effort to address plastic waste, the government banned single-use plastics by 2022 and established EPR frameworks for e-waste and packaging material management. Initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Mission have led to a dramatic increase in waste collection in metropolitan and urban areas, but material segregation remains inadequate, and informal recycling systems remain hampered.
Good examples include Indore's waste segregation and recycling programs, which have made it India's cleanest city. Corporations are adopting circular practices by recycling steel scrap, while rural areas are engaging in community composting. Waste-to-energy plants, although underutilized, offer a potential solution for non-recyclable waste. However, scaling up these models requires better infrastructure, public awareness, and greater investment in technology.
Climate Change
As a developing country, India is more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because it relies on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and forestry. Low per capita income and a small public budget also reduce financial adjustment capacity. The country is vulnerable to the immediate socio-economic impacts of climate change. A 2002 study found that the country's temperature increased by approximately 0.57°C every 100 years.
Weak infrastructure also means that people are more exposed to climate change and less resilient. For example, as of 2015, only 124 million Indians were connected to sewers and 297 million to septic tanks. The rest rely on pit latrines or open defecation, posing a significant risk of waterborne diseases during floods – which will become more frequent and severe with climate change. These risks are more acute in urban areas, where high populations mean basic infrastructure options may not be adequate. Furthermore, many of India's largest cities are located in floodplains and deltas, making them highly vulnerable to climate hazards such as sea-level rise, storm surges, and cyclones.
Although India still has a low average per capita income, the country is now the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, after China and the USA. The central government has pledged to reduce the emissions intensity of gross domestic product by 20-25% by 2020 compared to 2005 levels. India has also made significant commitments to expand its renewable energy supply, improve energy efficiency, build mass transit, and take other measures to reduce its emissions. There is evidence that many of these climate actions could yield significant benefits beyond reducing India's carbon footprint. Many low-carbon measures are economically attractive, including more efficient air conditioners, parking demand management, gasification, and vehicle performance standards. Others also offer social benefits: for example, if countries promoted renewable energy technologies over fossil fuels and walking/cycling/public transport over private vehicles, air quality in Indian cities could improve significantly.
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