The rural works department on Thursday blacklisted 694 contractors for not completing their work within the stipulated time frame.

Rural works minister Bhim Singh announced that the punished contractors would not be able to take part in any bidding of the department. However, they can still submit a written application by October 21 if they feel that they have been punished without any legitimate reason.

He added that contractors must complete the main-tenance work of roads constructed in the past five years by December 2013.

Singh announced a Rs 510-crore grant for maintenance work on 2,500km of roads constructed more than five years ago.

An additional amount of Rs 2,500 crore has been sanctioned for laying 10,000km of roads in rural areas.

The minister also announced the sanctioning of a further Rs 2,000 crore next week for construction of rural roads.