Sugar mills in Maharashtra can now expect saffron boons
Gadkari owns Purti group, which runs 3 sugar mills, late Gopinath Munde owned Vaidyanath Sugar Co-operative while Tavde, runs Shreenath Mhaskoba mill.
By Jayashree Bhosale, ET Bureau |
PUNE: The relation between the sugar mills and the first saffron government in Maharashtra which was thorny in the 1990s, is expected to be less confrontational now as both BJP and Shiv Sena leaders now enjoy a slice of the sugar industry. It was controlled by Congress and NCP earlier.
Twenty years ago, when the first Shiv Sena-BJP government came to power in Maharashtra, the party had no connection with the sugar industry. The industry alleged that the then government deliberately troubled the mills, all of which were controlled by the Congress and NCP. Today, as the BJP is again set to come to power, the industry is not worried as senior BJP leaders like Nitin Gadkari, late Gopinath Munde, Vinod Tawde and many new MLAs have their own sugar mills.
The Sena-BJP alliance came to power for the first time in 1995. Although the share of private sugar mills was slowly increasing in the state, it was solely in the co-operative sector back then. The co-operation department, which controls the co-operative sugar mills, was with the Shiv Sena. Requesting anonymity, a veteran from the co-operative sector said: “Back then, no one from Sena or BJP owned a sugar mill. When they came to power, they started giving trouble to mills like starting inquiries, checking the previous audit reports, issuing notices under the co-operation act etc.” “Though they acted against the mills strongly at first, towards the end of their tenure, they had reached a stage of compromise.”
It was during the tenure of the BJP government that the sugar industry in Maharashtra was licensed, allowing entry of the private sector. In fact, late Gopinath Munde secured licence for his first sugar mill during the 13-day Vajpayee government in 1996.
With 20 years down the line, a lot of water has flown under the bridge. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari controls his own Purti group, which runs three sugar mills, late Gopinath Munde owned the Vaidyanath Sugar Co-operative while the third heavy weight leader, Vinod Tavde, runs Shreenath Mhaskoba mill at Daund in Pune district.
Apart from the stalwarts, many of BJP’s new MLAs like Subhash Deshmukh from Solapur, Babanrao Pachpute and Amal Mahadik run sugar mills.
Twenty years ago, when the first Shiv Sena-BJP government came to power in Maharashtra, the party had no connection with the sugar industry. The industry alleged that the then government deliberately troubled the mills, all of which were controlled by the Congress and NCP. Today, as the BJP is again set to come to power, the industry is not worried as senior BJP leaders like Nitin Gadkari, late Gopinath Munde, Vinod Tawde and many new MLAs have their own sugar mills.
The Sena-BJP alliance came to power for the first time in 1995. Although the share of private sugar mills was slowly increasing in the state, it was solely in the co-operative sector back then. The co-operation department, which controls the co-operative sugar mills, was with the Shiv Sena. Requesting anonymity, a veteran from the co-operative sector said: “Back then, no one from Sena or BJP owned a sugar mill. When they came to power, they started giving trouble to mills like starting inquiries, checking the previous audit reports, issuing notices under the co-operation act etc.” “Though they acted against the mills strongly at first, towards the end of their tenure, they had reached a stage of compromise.”
It was during the tenure of the BJP government that the sugar industry in Maharashtra was licensed, allowing entry of the private sector. In fact, late Gopinath Munde secured licence for his first sugar mill during the 13-day Vajpayee government in 1996.
With 20 years down the line, a lot of water has flown under the bridge. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari controls his own Purti group, which runs three sugar mills, late Gopinath Munde owned the Vaidyanath Sugar Co-operative while the third heavy weight leader, Vinod Tavde, runs Shreenath Mhaskoba mill at Daund in Pune district.
Apart from the stalwarts, many of BJP’s new MLAs like Subhash Deshmukh from Solapur, Babanrao Pachpute and Amal Mahadik run sugar mills.
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