India being a signatory to CBD is mandated to achieve biodiversity targets according to a time line, which requires a credible action plan, funds, and a smart implementation strategy. While India has a National Biodiversity Action Plan, it lacks a Biodiversity Finance Policy/Plan ─ key to identifying, current funds flow, periodic and continuous additional finance needs as well as resource mobilization strategies. Biodiversity finance in India, is highly fragmented, lacks a clear policy and a road map. Multiple institutions are involved in directing finance often with overlapping functions and no systematic tracking. While a couple of studies have attempted to map the sources and quantum of funds towards biodiversity conservation, there is no comprehensive estimate of total budgetary funding in India for this purpose. This paper not only fills this gap but also estimates the flow of funds from externally aided projects and from corporate sector through CSR and other compliance mandates. The paper uses a modified ‘Rio-marker’ methodology and ‘Budgetary data on Actual Expenditure’ on biodiversity in the analysis thus contributes to both theoretical and empirical literature on the subject. The analysis shows that the majority of BD management is through government Budget support, supplemented by externally aided projects, corporate sector, and Civil Society. The paper shows that a template for tracking and tagging biodiversity expenditure is necessary in institutionalizing this process and thus moving towards a credible biodiversity finance plan.

 

Keywords: Biodiversity financing, government expenditure, sub-national governments, Maharashtra, India

JEL Classification: Q5