New Delhi: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday launched the Uttar Pradesh Startup Mission portal and Uttar Pradesh Startup Policy-2026, and said the state has more than 24,000 startups, including eight unicorns.

At the event, incentives worth more than Rs 3.42 crore were distributed to 107 startups and Rs 1.79 crore to nine incubators. Recognition certificates were also given to new incubators.

Adityanath said the initiatives aimed at providing young people funding, incubation support and platforms to help their ideas and businesses grow.

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"We have gathered here to give a flight to the dreams of the youth of Uttar Pradesh," he said.

He said India's startup ecosystem had grown from around 500 startups before 2014 to more than 2.5 lakh now.

"In Uttar Pradesh, the number had increased from 120 before 2017 to more than 24,000. Eight of these startups are unicorns," the chief minister said.

Startups were also helping change the perception of Uttar Pradesh, he added.

He recalled the situation before 2017, saying people outside the state viewed it with suspicion and associated it with poor roads, prolonged closure of schools, colleges and markets, stone-pelting and curfews.

"The perception was that where potholes on the roads begin and darkness starts after sunset, the Uttar Pradesh border has arrived," Adityanath said.

He claimed that more than 700 major riots had taken place in the state over five years before 2017, saying that discussing employment, incubators, education and innovation in such circumstances was "a dream".

Adityanath said education, employment, startups and incubators were interconnected and required an ecosystem based on public confidence, government commitment and appropriate policies.

Uttar Pradesh's population of around 25 crore should be viewed as a demographic advantage, the chief minister noted.

"If you say that the population of Uttar Pradesh will be a challenge for the state, I say no; it is our demographic dividend," he pointed out.

The chief minister said the state has a young and talented workforce and that the government's role is to provide opportunities.

"What I like even more is that half of these startups are being operated by women, who constitute half of our population," he said.

Adityanath said the government had supported proposals from various institutions, including IIT Kanpur, IIT-BHU, and IIIT, among others, to promote startups.

The government had recently introduced additional incentives for new startups and provided a separate fund to universities to promote research and innovation, he noted.

The chief minister claimed that Uttar Pradesh had moved from being among the country's bottom three economies before 2017 to becoming one of the top three.

"In these nine years, we have succeeded in tripling the state's economy, per capita income and women's workforce participation," he said.

He also claimed that the number of large industries had nearly tripled from around 12,000.

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"This is the new Uttar Pradesh, which is not going to retreat and is rapidly establishing itself as one of the country's fastest-growing economies," he added.

Adityanath said the government was supporting Centres of Excellence in areas, including medtech, drone technology, quantum computing, space technology, robotics and green hydrogen.

The government was ready to increase its Fund of Funds, provide land on lease and offer plug-and-play spaces to startups, he said.

"But you will have to move forward with greater speed to strengthen this startup ecosystem and give wings to the dreams of today's youth," he added.

The state now has adequate land, improved security and a dedicated startup policy, he stressed.

"Today, Uttar Pradesh has emerged from policy paralysis. We have a dedicated policy, and the state is free from curfews and stone-pelting," Adityanath said.

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