Fifty nine industrialists of Meerut district are ready to invest Rs 684 crore for growth of their industries for which they have sent proposals to the upcoming Investors Summit in Lucknow. However, they are upset by the lukewarm response from the summit organisers.

The proposed investment from the district could have been much more had the investors got adequate information through interactive sessions, opined the industrial association members. They complained that the summit organisers are restricting the number of participants and this may well affect investment.

Meerut has great potential for increasing investment in the industrial sector. The district is known for its sports goods, handloom, paper and other small and medium scale industries. So far industrialists here have come up with investment proposals of Rs 684 crore to avail benefits of the investors summit, said Rishi Ranjan Goel, joint commissioner of Industries, adding that the majority of these 59 industrialists are willing to invest money on their existing units .

He said Paswara Paper Mill alone has sent an expansion proposal of Rs 351 crore. The department has received online registration of 40 industrialists for their participation in the summit scheduled on 21 and 22 February in Lucknow. However, Girish Kumar, vice president of Meerut Industries Development Forum (MIDFO), said the government is trying to restrict the number of participants at the investors’ summit which otherwise could have been much higher. Now many of them may skip the summit.

The joint commissioner admitted that there are restrictions on numbers. Earlier, senior officials in Lucknow had approved of 60 to 70 industrialists from the district but now there are no instructions about the number of participants. Goel is hopeful of getting the issue resolved soon. He claimed that they had organised interactive sessions with industries to brief them about the summit after which they got a great response.

However, leaders of industries associations alleged that proper meetings were not organised. The outcome would have been much better otherwise, averred Atul Bhusan Gupta, president of Indian Industries Association of Meerut Chapter. “The officials only forwarded mails and other information that they had received from Lucknow,” said Gupta, adding that they did not organise any interactive session or meeting and lacked proper initiatives.

“I was also planning to attend the Summit but then I was told that there are restricted number of seats,” said Ashok Garg, a leading real estate developer of Meerut . According to Garg, genuine dedication seems missing among officials as there is no work culture. “There was total lack of communication,” said Garg.

Yet the officials are hopeful of the success of the investors meet. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on his visit here on Wednesday predicted that the summit would be a grand success and draw big investment for the state.

“Investment will come to UP only when industries get benefits from the state government, ” said Lokesh Varshney, a young industrialist.

Any such initiative will be successful if the government has effective packages to offer industries, he added .

“Besides incentives there are many factors which invite investment in any state,” said Ashok Garg, adding that in UP there is no accountability and a lot of adhocism which works as a repulsive force. While other states are much ahead, UP still lacks any investment model , said Amir Sikander.