According to the India State of Forest Report 2023, which were the top three States in the country in terms of area under forests?
- (a)Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh
- (b)Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur
- (c)Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim
- (d)Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha
Correct — D, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha. This is the ISFR 2023 ranking of States by Recorded Forest Area (RFA) — the area legally notified as forest in government records: Madhya Pradesh about 94,689 sq km, Maharashtra about 61,952 sq km and Odisha about 61,204 sq km. Read the question that way and the trio is exact. If instead you rank by forest cover (the satellite-mapped green canopy), ISFR 2023 gives Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — a trio that no option offers, which is the tell that the paper is asking about recorded forest area. Madhya Pradesh is first on every one of these lists.
- (a)Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh — Chhattisgarh is genuinely high — third by forest cover and fourth by recorded forest area — but Jharkhand is nowhere near the top three on either measure, so the trio fails.
- (b)Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur — Both Himachal Pradesh and Manipur are well-forested relative to their size, but in absolute area neither comes close to the large central and eastern States.
- (c)Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim — The most tempting option, because Arunachal Pradesh really is second in forest cover. Sikkim kills it: with a total geographical area of only about 7,096 sq km, it cannot rank third in any absolute forest-area list.
The India State of Forest Report is published every two years by the Forest Survey of India (Dehradun) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; ISFR 2023 was released in December 2024. It reports three different 'forest area' numbers that students routinely merge into one: Recorded Forest Area (land legally notified as forest — reserved, protected and unclassed), Forest Cover (all land of one hectare or more with over 10 per cent tree canopy, mapped from satellite, whether or not it is legally forest) and Forest and Tree Cover (forest cover plus trees outside forests). The State ranking changes depending on which of the three you use.
Madhya Pradesh sits at number one on all three lists, so the first name in every option is a free gift; the question is decided entirely by places two and three. Work out which metric the paper means by testing the options against each ranking — only the recorded-forest-area order (MP, Maharashtra, Odisha) appears among the choices.
- ISFR 2023 — 18th edition, published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, under MoEFCC
- Recorded Forest Area, top three: Madhya Pradesh about 94,689 sq km, Maharashtra about 61,952 sq km, Odisha about 61,204 sq km
- Forest cover, top three: Madhya Pradesh 77,073 sq km, Arunachal Pradesh 65,882 sq km, Chhattisgarh 55,812 sq km
- Forest and tree cover, top three: Madhya Pradesh 85,724 sq km, Arunachal Pradesh 67,083 sq km, Maharashtra 65,383 sq km
- India's forest cover is about 7,15,343 sq km, 21.76 per cent of the geographical area; forest and tree cover together about 8,27,357 sq km, 25.17 per cent
- Highest forest cover as a share of area: Lakshadweep among UTs and Mizoram among States
Madhya Pradesh tops all three lists; only the second and third places move. The option set matches the recorded-forest-area order.
- Quoting Madhya Pradesh's forest cover as 85,724 sq km — that is its forest AND tree cover; its forest cover is 77,073 sq km
- Assuming 'area under forest' always means forest cover; in official Indian usage it can mean recorded forest area
- Confusing largest forest area (Madhya Pradesh) with the highest percentage of forest cover (Lakshadweep among UTs, Mizoram among States)
Both MPPSC and UPSC ask this as a ranking or 'which State has the maximum' one-liner, using the latest ISFR. MPPSC repeats it almost every cycle and often narrows it to Madhya Pradesh districts. Always note which edition of ISFR the question names, and which of the three metrics it uses.
Consider the following States: 1. Chhattisgarh 2. Madhya Pradesh 3. Maharashtra 4. Odisha With reference to the States mentioned above, in terms of percentage of forest cover to the total area of State, which one of the following is the correct ascending order?
- (a) 2-3-1-4
- (b) 2-3-4-1
- (c) 3-2-4-1
- (d) 3-2-1-4
Answer(c) 3-2-4-1 — Maharashtra, then Madhya Pradesh, then Odisha, with Chhattisgarh highest.
Same concept and almost the same States — UPSC ranked them by forest cover as a percentage of area, which is exactly the metric distinction that decides the MPPSC 2026 question.
During the year 2021, which state had the largest forest cover in India?
- (a) Maharashtra
- (b) Madhya Pradesh
- (c) Odisha
- (d) Andhra Pradesh
Answer(b) Madhya Pradesh
MPPSC asked the same FSI ranking one year earlier — and its option set (Maharashtra, MP, Odisha) is the same trio the 2026 key uses, confirming the commission's preferred reading of 'area under forests'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to the India State of Forest Report 2023, which State has the largest forest cover (area) in the country?
- (a)Arunachal Pradesh
- (b)Madhya Pradesh
- (c)Chhattisgarh
- (d)Odisha
Answer(b) Madhya Pradesh — about 77,073 sq km of forest cover, ahead of Arunachal Pradesh.
- practice — not a real PYQ
As per ISFR 2023, which State has the highest forest cover as a percentage of its geographical area?
- (a)Mizoram
- (b)Arunachal Pradesh
- (c)Meghalaya
- (d)Nagaland
Answer(a) Mizoram — the highest among States (Lakshadweep leads among Union Territories).