Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday said the Central government has approved Rs 1131.87 crore projects for various developmental projects in Himachal Pradesh.

Thakur who is on a two-day tour to New Delhi for coordinating with various Ministries regarding various developmental projects, informed about the decision.

“These include Rs 708.87 crore for Water Conservation Project and Rs 423 crore Himachal Pradesh Integrated Mushroom Development project,” he said, adding both the projects were approved on Tuesday by Union Finance ministry.

He said the government had prepared the water conservation project for the state with the estimated cost of Rs 4751.24 crore in order to double the farmer’s income through water construction initiatives. The first phase of the project is of Rs 708.87 crore.

“The project will include construction of check dams, ponds, kuhl’s and other water harvesting structures. Both the projects were formulated by the state government in last three months and approved by the Union government in record time,” he said.

The Chief Minister said Rs 423 crore integrated mushroom development project would prove to be a milestone for the farming community of the state.
The ambitious project would not only help in doubling the income of farmers but also provide employment and self-employment opportunities to youth in the state.

Thakur said it was a matter of happiness for the people of the state that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his popular programme ‘Mann ki Baat’ referred about mushroom cultivation in Himachal Pradesh.

“With the active cooperation from the Union government, this ambitious project would boost mushroom cultivation in the state. All varieties of mushroom would be cultivated under the project besides importing high tech knowledge for cultivating mushroom, which would give a fillip in increasing the income of the farmers,” he said.

He said the increasing demand for mushrooms within the state as well as outside the state including export offers better prospects for enterprising growers to take up cultivation on large scale.