Patna: Road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav said the Centre has approved construction of 49 roads in five Maoist-hit districts of Bihar.

"The total lengh of roads will be 835km and the estimated cost will be Rs 1,584 crore," Nand Kishore said. "The Centre will give Rs 821 crore while the state will provide the rest."

He said the decision to approve roads in Maoist hit districts has been taken after a series of high level meetings between state and central officials. He said the last panel meeting was attended by his department's principal secretary Amritlal Meena. After the construction of these roads commuting would become safer in Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Aurangabad, Jamui and Banka.

The minister said six roads will be constructed in Aurangabad, 5 in Banka, 9 in Gaya, 6 in Jamui and 23 in Muzaffarpur. The department has been asked to complete tender process in two months and complete the roads within a year.

The roads will fall under major district road category and be 5.5m wide in general and 7m wide where densely populated.