These Indian cities have the highest tree cover — is yours listed?

A proper national ranking of Indian cities by tree count does not really exist. The closest thing we have is a patchwork of studies and official reports: some measure tree cover, some measure forest-and-tree cover, and some count green cover more broadly. One FSI-linked source is blunt about the problem itself: “the status about the tree cover for different cities in India is not available.” It also notes that, for megacities, a tree cover of at least 15% was treated as a desirable norm, and most cities fall short. That is the saddest truth beneath all the leafy branding. 

The cities that stand out for tree and forest cover

Among the cities with published comparable figures, Gandhinagar is the winner that makes everyone else look like they didn’t try hard enough. In the FSI-linked table reproduced in that source, Gandhinagar had 53.9 percent total tree-and-forest cover, compared with 14.9% for Chandigarh and 11.9 percent for Delhi. 

Chandigarh comes next, and it has earned the reputation by actually keeping its trees. The UT administration’s 2019 Greening Chandigarh Action Plan reported 47.56 sq km under forest cover and another 10 sq km under tree cover. An earlier Chandigarh action-plan document had already described the city as having 43 sq km of forest cover and 11 sq km of tree cover. This is a reminder that green cities still require paperwork to keep up with the leaves.

Delhi is greener than its AQI makes it feel. The NIES-linked comparison estimated 11.9 percent tree cover for New Delhi, and the same source said roughly 20 percent of Delhi’s geographical area was under green cover overall, with nine city forests and two biodiversity parks. While it is not a forested metropolis; it is a city that still has enough botanical backbone to resist complete hardscaping. 

Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai: Green but under pressure

Then come the big metros that still keep some dignity in the shade. The same comparison estimated tree cover at 8.6 percent for Bengaluru, 7.5 percent for Chennai, and 6.2 percent for Greater Mumbai. These cities are evidence that even India’s better-known green cities have spent years negotiating with concrete, and concrete is a shamelessly efficient negotiator. 

Jamshedpur deserves a place in the conversation

Jamshedpur deserves an honourable mention because it was built with a stronger ecological conscience than most industrial cities. Tata Steel’s environmental compliance report says the town, including steel works, has about 2,400 hectares of green cover out of 5,094 hectares, which it says is above the 33 percent benchmark it uses. Tata Steel’s nature-trail page also says that 30+ community parks cover over 120 hectares, and that over 12 lakh trees have been planted in the town in the last decade. 

So if you are looking for the cities in India with the most trees, the strongest verified names are Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, and, in its own industrial category, Jamshedpur. The exact order shifts depending on whether the source counts tree cover, forest cover, or broad green cover. But in Indian cities, trees are infrastructure, weather insurance, and the last decent argument against a whole lot of bad planning.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.