The Centre has approved developmental works to the tune of Rs 366 crore in Maharashtra's Maoist-hit districts of Gadchiroli and Gondia, state home minister R R Patil said today.

"The state government has proposed infrastructure developmental works of Rs 1,893 crore in the Naxal-affected areas and the Centre has given nod for Rs 366 crore works in the first phase," he told PTI here.

The government plans to set up a 600 km-long road network and construct three major bridges in the areas to check left wing extremism, the minister said.

The bridges on Pranhita, Indravati and Godavari rivers will facilitate smooth flow of road traffic in border regions of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, Patil said.

The bridges on Indravati and Pranhita rivers are planned along NH 16 and the one on Godavari will be built on State Highway 9, the minister said.

"I will write to home minister P Chidambaram to expedite construction work of the bridges," he said.

The NH-16 connects Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to Maharashtra.

The Centre has sanctioned the construction of 313 km-long roads in Gadchiroli at an estimated cost of Rs 303 crore and 80 km long roads estimated to cost Rs 63 crore in Gondia, the minister said.

Major roads sanctioned include Banjurpalli-Parsewada (Rs 3 crore), Devalgada (Rs 7.80 crore), Gattakothi-Bhamragad (Rs 6.42 crore) and Seoni-Sirpur (Rs 11 crore).