Pune (Maharashtra) [India], June 7 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday declined to respond to the media reports of possible reconciliation between Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray.
"I have no interest in being 'begani shaadi mein Abdullah deewana'. These are two parties, two brothers -- it's up to them to decide their course of action. Once they make their decision, we will respond," Fadnavis told reporters here.
"Until then, let the media fly its kite of speculation. Why should I react to it? One thing I can see clearly: while we don't know how much real conversation is happening between them, there is certainly a lot of chatter in the media. So for now, I won't be giving any reaction," he added.
Raj Thackeray left the undivided Shiv Sena and floated the MNS in 2006.
Earlier in the press conference, Fadnavis talked about the" economics of ethanol."
"The economics of ethanol has now been very well established, and Pramod Chaudhary of Praj Industries has made a very significant contribution to this. Today, he explained how polylactic acid -- which is used to make biodegradable plastic -- was earlier dependent on technology from abroad. Since that made it expensive, its use was limited. But now, he informed me that we can produce it domestically," he said.
"So, I told him that if he could provide us with a detailed policy draft -- outlining what is needed to establish this industry and what kind of incentives would be expected -- then we can build a structure around it. This could also serve as a good solution for times when we have a sugar surplus," he added.
He said that the environment is under threat due to non-biodegradable plastics.
"Most importantly, our environment is under threat due to non-biodegradable plastics, which are causing significant harm. If we gradually move toward degradable plastics, it would be a great service to the environment. There was a brief pause in this initiative in the past when it seemed there might be a sugar shortage in the country," he said.
"But once we got the necessary information about quotas, the program resumed...I would like to highlight that due to the policy formulated by the Modi government, we have now achieved up to 20% blending (with ethanol), which has saved the country's lakhs and crores in foreign exchange," he added.