Pawar shoots down Reliance sugar factory plan in M'rashtra

PUNE: Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has shown the door to Reliance’s plans to set up large sugar factory in the state.

The move by Reliance to set up a large private sugar factory in a sector dominated by cooperatives from where politicians derive their base, had upset several of these politicians.

“All that I have said is that there is a restriction in Maharashtra that you cannot put up a new sugar factory within a 14 km radius of an existing factory.

There is no such place left in Maharashtra for Reliance to put up a plant within these guidelines.

Instead, I have suggested they look at areas like Bihar, Orissa, some districts of West Bengal and Assam where sugar cane grows but these areas face sugar shortages,” Mr Pawar told reporters here.