Chief ministers across the country may woo investors, but Chief Minister Mayawati has decided to give the first investor meet — being organised by the state government in Mumbai on October 27 — a miss.

Industrial Development Commissioner Anoop Mishra, who confirmed that Mayawati will not attend the meet, said: “The cabinet secretary will lead the meet from the government’s end and this has been conveyed to the investors. We have received a positive response from them.”

Several top business houses have been invited to the “Invest UP” meet to be held at Hotel Taj Mahal.

The business houses will be informed about the initiatives taken by the state government in the recent past to attract investment.

Last year, the government had planned an investors’ meet in Delhi, but it was cancelled at the last moment because Mayawati was unable to make it. Obviously, this had left a negative impact on the investors.

A major task before the state is to repair the government’s industry-unfriendly image.

Soon after BSP came to power, it had ordered closure of Reliance Fresh stores, saying these would hurt farmers and small traders. It came out with a policy to attract private investment in agriculture and related activities, but rolled it back after 20 days.

According to official sources, the government had sent out around 100 invites, and about 40 business houses have confirmed their participation. Among these are the Tatas, both the Ambani groups and the Adani group.

Some of the important projects that will be placed before the investors include three thermal power projects — Lalitpur, Jawaharpur in Etah and Dopah in Sonbhadra district — with a total generation capacity of 5,000 MW.

... contd.