Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
MISHTI Scheme
"India's dedicated mangrove plantation and coastal livelihood programme — Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes — announced in Union Budget 2023-24 to expand India's blue carbon ecosystems"
MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes) is a government of India scheme announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 to promote mangrove plantation along India's coastline. It integrates two objectives: ecological conservation (expanding mangrove cover in coastal states including West Bengal/Sundarbans, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Maharashtra) and economic development (generating 'tangible incomes' for coastal communities through activities like honey collection, fish nurseries, and ecotourism). MISHTI operates in convergence with existing schemes — MGNREGS for employment component, CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund) for funding, and the Forest Department for implementation. India's current mangrove cover is approximately 4,992 sq km (State of Forest Report 2023), ranking fifth globally. India is also a founding member of the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) — launched at COP27 (2022) — targeting a doubling of global mangrove cover by 2030.
UPSC GS-3 (Environment — mangroves, blue carbon, climate adaptation, coastal ecosystem services) and GS-3 Economy (coastal livelihoods). Prelims tests the full form of MISHTI, which Budget it was announced in, and its dual conservation-livelihood mandate. Mains questions address the significance of mangroves as blue carbon sinks, India's mangrove policy architecture (MISHTI + CRZ 2019 + FCA), and the connection between mangrove health and coastal resilience against cyclones and sea-level rise.
- 1 MISHTI = Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes
- 2 Announced in Union Budget 2023-24
- 3 Dual objective — mangrove plantation (ecology) + coastal community livelihoods (economy)
- 4 Target states — West Bengal (Sundarbans), Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra
- 5 Convergence with MGNREGS, CAMPA, Forest Department
- 6 India's mangrove cover — ~4,992 sq km (SFR 2023); fifth globally
- 7 [object Object]
- 8 Mangroves store blue carbon at 5-10x the rate of terrestrial forests per unit area
The 2026 study finding that the Sundarbans lost 10-15% ecological resilience (2000-2024) underscored the urgency of MISHTI — the Sundarbans, India's largest mangrove complex, is simultaneously India's most climate-vulnerable coastal ecosystem.
