Local farmers and traders in Sangli are upset with the state industries department for ignoring their demand for preference to the Marathi manoos. A traders and farmers association is eyeing a 166-acre MIDC plot in Kavlapur in Sangli in order to create employment for locals and promote their produce. It is seeking preference for locals in allotment of the plot. 

Accordingly, the Sangli Chamber of Commerce (a 120-year-old institution) formed the Sangli Spice and Food Park Association. The association has been following up with MIDC for a plot to ensure a competitive market for local produce, and a good rate for farmers’ products. In fact, Jayant Patil, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and senior minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, wrote a letter to Industries Minister Subhash Desai in 2021 about the issue. In his letter, Patil, who hails from Sangli, urged the industries department to consider the requests of local farmers and traders while allotting the plot. Sangli produces turmeric, chillis, jaggery, raisins and spices. The association, which is an NGO, requires the plot for a space to store, process, market and also prepare the produce for export.