Mumbai, Feb 4 (IANS): NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister of Food and Civil Supply Dhananjay Munde on Tuesday rejected the allegations made by anti-corruption crusader Anjali Damania relating to corruption in the procurement of agricultural materials including nano fertilisers during his tenure as the agriculture minister between July 2023 and November 2024.

He claimed that the allegations are completely baseless and false, saying that the purchases of nano fertilisers, electric spray pumps, cotton storage bags and other agricultural materials by the Agriculture Department during March 2024 were made entirely in accordance with the instructions of the government.

The purchase of these items through the government, excluding the distribution on DBT, was done only with the prior permission of the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Finance Minister.

He claimed that Damania had levelled charges only to create a sensation. Munde said that both Nano Urea and Nano DAP, the fertilisers purchased by the government, are manufactured by IFFCO and that the company's prices are the same everywhere in India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

“Therefore, to say that there was a difference in these prices and that a scam of crores of rupees was caused by this is a sign of ignorance,” he said.

Similarly, while purchasing battery-operated spray pumps, some companies provide a six-month warranty and repairs within that period to the spray pumps they supply in some states. However, the Maharashtra government requires that at least one year of warranty be given while purchasing spray pumps and the repair costs be borne by the concerned company. Such spray pumps have been purchased through a competitive bidding process. Munde also clarified that the relevant tenders were also extended twice so that maximum companies could participate in all four types of tender processes.

“During the period when all this happened, cotton prices were low, so farmers were usually not willing to sell cotton. However, due to staying indoors, not only the cotton but also the farmer's families started getting infected with various infectious diseases. When the demand for bags to store the cotton came up, the relevant purchase was made from the central government company at the certified rates,” he said.

Earlier, Damania alleged corruption in the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme.

“There has been corruption worth crores in nano urea, nano DAP, battery spares, Metaldehyde pesticide and cotton collection bags. She claimed that Munde had charged extra money to buy these products. The rate of nano urea is Rs 184 per litre. That is, a 500 milliliter bottle costs Rs 92. But after the tender that was floated under the chairmanship of Munde, it was purchased at Rs 220. About 19,68,408 bottles were procured at Rs 220 each, she alleged. The price of Nano DAP is Rs 522 per litre. That is, a 500-millilitre bottle is available for only Rs 269. A total of 19,57,438 bottles were purchased at Rs 590. “Both these scams are worth Rs 88 crore,” claimed Damania.

She said that the battery spares were bought at Rs 3,426 against the market price of Rs 2,450. The Metaldehyde pesticide was purchased at Rs 1,275 against the retail price of Rs 817 to curb damage to cotton and soybean due to the presence of snails.

Meanwhile, Munde said he would file a criminal defamation case against Anjali Damania.

In his post on X, Munde on late Tuesday evening said: “Anjali Damania has made false and baseless allegations against me by holding a press conference for the second time in a day today. I would like to clarify once again that the then procurement process in the Agriculture Department was done as per the provisions of the rules and after the final approval of the Chief Minister, only then further action was taken. I will soon file a criminal defamation case in the Bombay High Court against Anjali Damania who has made many other false allegations against me.”