Adani Enterprises has planted 1.6 million (mn) trees and saplings across 568 hectares at the Parsa East and Kanta Basan mine (PEKB) in Surguja district, Chhattisgarh. The company operates the site as developer and operator for Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd and presents the greening drive as restoration of mined land following coal extraction. The initiative is described as transforming an active mining area into a green landscape.

The programme aims to increase green cover to more than four million (mn) trees by the end of the decade and to restore biodiversity in the region. Under the rehabilitation policy, the company plants 40 trees for every tree removed during mining operations and has replanted native species such as Sal, Mahua, Tendu, Amaltas and Sidha. The firm reports a survival rate of about 88 per cent for the replanted native species.

The Union Coal Ministry said on LinkedIn that the ecological restoration at the PEKB mine illustrated a strong commitment to sustainable transformation following mine closure. Adani has also developed a three point five-hectare nursery that houses about 500,000 saplings and has achieved successful regeneration of Sal forests in the area. The site work is presented as an example of how responsible mining and conservation can proceed together.

The company has undertaken compensatory afforestation across more than 4,000 hectares in the Surguja, Korea, Balrampur and Surajpur forest divisions and deposited Rs two point five nine billion (bn) with the Chhattisgarh government towards afforestation, wildlife management and environmental measures. The restoration programme is combined with community initiatives on education, healthcare and livelihoods and the company provides regular monitoring reports to state and federal authorities to demonstrate compliance with forest and environmental clearances.