Ranchi, Apr 22 : Jharkhand will be allocated over 40,000 crore rupees during the 11th Five Year Plan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here today.

Addressing a public meeting in Bokaro after inaugurating an ambitious expansion project costing 11,000 crore rupees, Singh said, “The Center will provide all possible assistance to Jharkhand for the betterment of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, backward communities and minorities.”

Singh also announced plans to set up a 5000 megawatt power project in Jharkhand to ensure better power supply and to construct a national highway between Ranchi and Vijayawada, besides upgrading the Hazari Bagh - Ranchi-Jhamshedpur Highway to four lanes.

He asked the Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda to implement the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme effectively.

Singh also inaugurated a rural electrification programme in ten villages of Bokaro District.

He is expected to release a stamp to commemorate the centenary of TATA Steel in Jhamshedpur this evening before returning to New Delhi. (ANI)