The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) is a premier taxonomic research organization and an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India. It was formally established on 13 February 1890 during the British Raj, with Sir George King as its first Director. The original objective was to explore India's plant resources and identify species of economic importance, solving the problem of coordinating botanical work previously scattered across different presidencies.
Following independence, the BSI was significantly reorganized on 29 March 1954, under the leadership of Dr. E.K. Janaki Ammal, to expand its scope. Its core mechanism involves undertaking intensive floristic surveys to collect detailed information on the occurrence, distribution, and ecology of plants. It acts as the custodian of authentic collections in well-planned herbaria, housing over four million specimens, and documents plant resources by publishing national, state, and district floras.
The BSI connects to global conservation efforts by serving as the nodal agency for evaluating the conservation status of Indian plant species in alignment with IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) criteria, identifying Red List species. While the core function of floristic survey remains, the mandate has recently broadened to include modern approaches like biosystematics research, the establishment of molecular taxonomy laboratories, and the digitization of herbarium specimens. It operates through a network of 16 regional centres across India.