Shimla, April 23 (PTI) Himachal Revenue and Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi on Wednesday directed officers to impose penalty on the firms which failed to complete the solar fencing work under Shiva Project on time.

Presiding over the meeting of the governing body of Rs 1,292 crore (USD 130 million), HP Shiva Project, he said the project was being implemented in seven out of 12 districts in the state and solar fencing work on 4,000 hectare land was proposed to be completed by June 2025 but so far only 828 hectare land has been covered and Rs 193 crore have been spent, a statement issued here said.

Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation and Value Addition (HPSHIVA) Project is being implemented for enhancing fruit production in sub-tropical areas of the state.

He asked the agri-scientists of Y S Parmar Horticulture and Forestry University, Nauni (Solan) to provide high quality plants of plum and Japanese fruit (persimmon) to the farmers.

As many as 66 agenda items were approved in the meeting during which this was also disclosed that an integrated digital platform is being developed under the HP Shiva project in which 75 types of artificial intelligence-based services like plant protection, disease management, soil testing, moisture level, weather information, tracing and tracking of production, capacity building and marketing and others will be made available. PTI BPL TRB