World Bank approves $235 million credit for rural roads projects in Bihar

The World Bank on Tuesday said it has approved a $235 million (nearly Rs 1,563.4 crore) credit for the Bihar Rural Roads Project to improve and effectively manage rural road network of the state.

"The project will support the construction of about 2,500 km of rural roads under the Mukhiya Mantri Gram Sampark Yojana (MMGSY)," World Bank said in a statement.

"This project will provide all-weather road access to some 1.2 million people, most of whom belong to the poor and vulnerable sections of society (30% of the people who are to benefit live below the poverty line and about 48% of them are women)," it added.

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Noting that the project will generate direct employment of about 20 million person days for local labourers through a rural road construction and maintenance programme, the multilateral agency said this projects will help Bihar government in bringing all parts of the state within five hours of travel time from the capital city of Patna.

The credit is from the International Development Association (IDA) - the World Bank's concessionary lending arm - with a maturity of 25 years, including a five-year grace period.