The five plants are located at Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Karnataka. While Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were among the first few states to ban Maggi, following the detection of contaminated samples in those regions, Goa and Karnataka followed. Goa banned the product in June as a "precautionary measure", while Karnataka first gave a thumbs-up to the product and then reversed its stand.
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Responding to queries on the issue, a Nestle India spokesperson said re-starting the manufacturing process was lengthy and complex. "We will evaluate where we can accelerate the process of re-starting production under the current circumstances," the spokesperson added.
Those in the know say resolving production issues will be critical for Nestle, as it looks to re-launch Maggi by the year-end. Earlier, Nestle India Managing Director Suresh Narayanan had said the company would press all levers to make the re-launch memorable.
For that, Nestle will have to commence production at the earliest.
Some say Nestle could have avoided the current logjam had it not terminated an agreement with Kolkata-based contract manufacturer SAJ Food Products last month. As West Bengal didn't ban Maggi, the issue of having to negotiate with state authorities wouldn't arise, they add.
The FSSAI-certified SAJ Food Products manufactured about four per cent of Maggi's annual volumes.
As Nestle didn't have its own plant to manufacture Maggi in the eastern region, SAJ was a key contract manufacturer.
While SAJ Chairman K D Paul said his company continued to manufacture other Nestle products, he declined to specify what led to the termination of the Maggi contract. "The decision (to terminate the Maggi contract) was taken by Nestle, as it thought it would be best to use its own production facilities," Paul said. "We not only remain manufacturers of other Nestle products, but also their leading distributors in the (eastern) region."