BEIJING - The Ministry of Finance said Monday that it has just allocated 10 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) to upgrade the electricity grid in rural areas.

The funds will go to 25 provincial regions including Liaoning, Fujian, Jiangxi, Henan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Qinghai and Xinjiang, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

Before this, the ministry had pumped 2.4 billion yuan into helping areas with little access to electricity in Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang, said another statement on the website on March 29.