Aurangabad, Oct 29 (PTI) Maharashtra Public Works Department Minister Ashok Chavan on Thursday blamed the Central government's "wrong" policies for the problems being faced by sugar factories.

Factories operate with a very small profit margin due to a mismatch between FRP (fair and remunerative price) of sugarcane and selling price of the sweetener, he said.

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The Congress leader was speaking at a programme held at Ardhapur in Nanded, his home district.

"The business graph of sugar factories has come down due to the wrong policies of the central government. In the past three years, sugar factories have been facing issues. Sugar prices have remained low in this period," Chavan said.

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After paying salaries, maintenance and other expenses, sugar mills are left with very little money and the business becomes unviable for most of them, he said.

"It is a tough job to run a sugar factory," the minister said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)