Patna, June 10: The foundation laying ceremony of a sugar mill by the Bengal based Ruia Group in north Bihar’s East Champaran district today left a whiff of politics.

Though chairman Pawan K. Ruia was quintessentially businesslike, RJD members, led by railway minister Lalu Prasad, virtually converted the dais into a government bashing platform.

“Nitish Kumar is only bragging about inviting investment here. He is doing nothing accept getting his pictures published in newspapers, despite the fact that he is not a good-looking man. We (RJD) are actually brining sugar industry in the state,” said Lalu, in his quintessential style. Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar attended the event.

The railway minister claimed the railway is in the process of opening as many as eight railway-related factories in the state. “Nitish Kumar, so far, has not brought a single factory on the ground. If Ruia has come to open a sugar factory here, it is on the initiative of the UPA government at the Centre.”

Lalu Prasad failed to mention how all 15 sugar factories, belonging to state sugar corporation, were closed during the 15 years of Lalu–Rabri regime.

The railway minister also did not mention of film producer Prakash Jha who was also building a sugar mill at Gurawalia in neighbouring West Champaran district — only a few kilometres away from the East Champaran site — which the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated in April 2007.

Other RJD ministers and leaders, including Union minister Akhilesh Singh, used the opportunity to bamboozle the state government more than speaking on Ruia’s initiatives in Bihar.

Incidentally, no government representative was present on the occasion.

But, Pawan K. Ruia was truly businesslike in his welcome speech. “…I am thankful to the government for helping us in procuring land and promising us a suitable environment to do the business,” he said.

The Ruia group laid the foundation stone of the greenfield sugar complex at Shariyatpur in East Champaran with the capacity to crush 10,000 tonnes of sugar per day besides 240KL of ethanol manufacturing and 50MW electric power generating facilities.

The factory will come up at over 200 acres that the company has acquired.

Sharad Pawar, too, sounded less political and more businesslike. “The Centre will ensure that banks provide loans at a rate of 4 per cent only to those entrepreneurs who venture to set up sugar-cum-ethanol factories in Bihar.

“The central government will ensure help to the Ruia Group setting up sugar-cum-ethanol mill in the state which once showed the country the way in the sugar production arena.”