Sugar mills sold as per court orders during Cong-NCP rule: Ajit Pawar

Refuting allegations that the erstwhile NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra had sold sugar mills at undervalued rates, Ajit Pawar claimed that their auctions were carried out as per court orders

Refuting the allegations of Opposition that the erstwhile NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra had sold sugar mills at undervalued rates, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday claimed in the Legislative Council that their auctions were carried out as per court orders and there were no irregularities in the entire process.

Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, countered the allegations in this regard levelled by Leader of Opposition in the Council Pravin Darekar of the BJP on Wednesday. The earlier state government auctioned sugar mills after court orders. Jarandeshwar sugar mill was sold for Rs 65 crore when its actual valuation was Rs 39 crore. The state even refused to stand as a guarantor as it wanted the mills to sustain on their own. Multiple people tried to revive the mill but they could not do so, he said. The NCP-Congress coalition was in power in the state from 1999 to 2014. "When Harshwardhan Patil was the cooperation minister, a factory was sold for Rs 3 crore and a mill in Barshiv was sold for Rs 28 crore, but no one is talking about them, taunted Pawar. Patil was a senior Congress leader who joined the BJP in 2019.