Shimla, Aug. 28 -- Himachal's industries minister Harshwardhan Chauhan on Thursday announced in the assembly that no new ethanol plants would be set up in the state. Replying to a query of Congress' Nalagarh MLA Hardeep Singh Bawa, who had moved a Call Attention Motion regarding the functioning of a plant in his constituency, Chauhan said, "An ethanol plant consumes between 5 lakh and 10 lakh litres of water daily. Therefore, new plants will not be established in Himachal."

Bawa pointed out that the foul odour and pollution emanating from the plant had been troubling area residents. The government stated that while shutting down the plant abruptly was not feasible, a long-term plan would be formulated to relocate it, and work would be in...