New Delhi: Programme Implementation Minister Maneka Gandhi on June 24 denied having said that Maruti Udyog was sold for a song, but had only remarked that the government had got the price that it had wanted during disinvestments.

Referring to the reported remarks that the company was sold for a song at a remembrance meeting here on June 23 on the occasion of her husband Sanjay Gandhi's 22nd death anniversary, Gandhi said the media reporting on the issue was a distortion and misinterpretation of her speech.

In a Press release, she said that though Sanjay Gandhi was vilified for starting Maruti, it had become one of the best companies in India.

It had established such a reputation that when the government decided to sell it, it got 'much mange daam'. "By this I was stating that the government had got the price it had wanted," Gandhi said.

She also wrote a letter to Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie clarifying her remarks.

"In fact, I had never followed Maruti affairs. I would be the last person to comment on any kind of disinvestment. As you know, I always confine myself to the areas in which I believe I have some knowledge. I am surprised at the distortion," she said in her letter to Shourie.

PTI