Raipur, March 12 (IANS) Maoist militants have held up at least 300 road projects of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), a minister said Friday.

'Some 300 road projects under PMGSY have been held up in the state due to Maoist problems. Whenever we award work to any contractor for road construction under PMGSY in Bastar, the contractors pull out from the projects because of Maoist problems,' Panchayat Minister Ramvichar Netam told the assembly during question hour.

He admitted that not a single PMGSY road has been completed in Bijapur, along with four other districts, that form the 40,000 sq km mineral rich Bastar region.

When opposition Congress members asked why the government is not handing over the road projects to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the minister said the BRO is yet to complete Jagdalpur-Bhopalpatnnam road for work that had begun about 10 years ago.

Bhopalpattanam, which comes under Bijapur district, has been a Maoist stronghold since the late 1980s.