Lucknow, Jan 30 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government has sanctioned a special economic package of Rs.691.50 crore for Bundelkhand, an official said Friday.

District officials in seven districts - Banda, Chitrakoot, Lalitpur, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Jalaun and Jhansi - of the region have been asked to use this fund for special warehouses and rural infrastructure centres, the official told IANS.

Projects worth Rs.66 crore (Lalitpur), Rs.55.66 crore (Banda), Rs.58.40 crore (Hamirpur), Rs. 62.86 crore (Jalaun) and Rs.63.93 crore (Jhansi) have been sanctioned for new rural infrastructure centres, the official said.

Bundelkhand has for long been the focus area for all political parties including the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as well as the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

While Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had got the then UPA government to announce a special economic package a few years back for Bundelkhand, the BSP and SP also have been making noises about special status for the region.