World Bank approves USD 235 mln for rural roads projects

The World Bank today said it has approved a USD 235 million 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 per cent of the people who are to benefit live below the poverty line and about 48 per cent of them are women)," it added.

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 government in bring 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 5-year grace period.