UP to support 50 AI startups in Lucknow over next 5 years: Yogi Adityanath

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said the state government aims to establish Lucknow among India's leading AI innovation cities and will support at least 50 AI-focussed startups in the city over the next five years.

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Addressing an event marking the 10th anniversary of HCLTech's Lucknow campus, Adityanath called on the IT major to partner with the government in developing a strong AI innovation ecosystem in the state capital.

The chief minister said the government would provide full support to establish, strengthen and help the startups access global markets.

"We have to make Lucknow not just a centre for IT services but a major hub for AI, semiconductors, cyber security, computing technology and deep tech," he said, stressing the need for the government and industry to work together.

Adityanath said HCL's journey in Lucknow was a matter of pride for Uttar Pradesh, noting that founder Shiv Nadar had started his journey from the state nearly five decades ago.

"HCL chose Lucknow and Lucknow adopted HCL," he said, adding that the company's campus, established 10 years ago, had given a new dimension to the partnership.

He said the success of the campus was not merely about business or employment, but was also linked to the aspirations of families whose children had found career opportunities in the city.

Referring to the state's workforce, Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh's young and talented population was its biggest strength.

"Today, I proudly say that I have India's youngest workforce, and its talent is my greatest strength," he said.

Adityanath further said that a decade ago, young people from Uttar Pradesh often had to move to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad for better career opportunities, but the situation had changed and young people were now choosing Lucknow for their careers.

The chief minister said Uttar Pradesh's infrastructure and connectivity had also expanded significantly. The roughly 1,200-km journey from Ballia to Bijnor could now be completed in about 10 hours, compared with several days a decade ago, he said.

On the state's IT and electronics sector, Adityanath claimed Uttar Pradesh accounted for around 55 per cent of India's mobile manufacturing and nearly 60 per cent of the electronic components manufactured in the country.

He said the state's IT and IT-enabled services exports, which stood at around Rs 12,000-15,000 crore a decade ago, had crossed Rs 1 lakh crore and the government was targeting Rs 2.5 lakh crore over the next four years.

Electronics exports have also risen from around Rs 3,800 crore a decade ago to Rs 45,000 crore, with a target of Rs 2 lakh crore by 2030, he said.

Adityanath said the IT sector was no longer limited to Noida, with IT parks operating in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Meerut and Agra.

Seven Software Technology Parks are operational in the state, while new IT parks are being developed in Varanasi, Bareilly, Kanpur and Gorakhpur, he said.

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