URUMQI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will invest 618 million yuan (about 98 million U.S. dollars) this year to construct and upgrade power grids in poverty-stricken areas.

A total of 261 villages in deep poverty will benefit from the project, according to the region's development and reform commission.

Xinjiang will allocate another 2.65 billion yuan for power grid modification and upgrades in rural areas in 2018.

More than 4 million farmers and herdsmen have benefited from the region's power grid upgrading projects over the past five years.