5,600 startups registered in UP till date; 500 in Lucknow

: Under the new startup policy-2020 of the state government, 5600 startups have been registered in Uttar Pradesh till date. Of them, maximum 1,154 are in Noida and 500 in the state capital.

The government has also decided to set up two centres of excellence in the state with one coming up at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur) for promotion of drone technology. Among prominent policies of the Yogi government is promotion of startups in the state as part of its industrialisation policy.

“The state government aims to take this figure of 5600 to 10,000 to promote entrepreneurship and make Uttar Pradesh a startup hub in the country,” said Navneet Sehgal, additional chief secretary, MSME and Khadi.

New startup policy offers additional incentives of 50 percent to startups based in Purvanchal and Bundelkhand regions as well as to those where startup founders/ co-founder is a woman, “Divyangjan” or from transgender community. According to the state government, 5600 startups have been registered in the state till date. Noida has emerged as a favourite destination for setting up startups. According to government officials, 1154 startups have registered in Noida, 533 in Ghaziabad, 500 in Lucknow besides 1,219 in Bundelkhand and Purvanchal regions. They belong to several sectors, including information technology, service, education, health, agriculture and textile among others. According to state IT and electronics department, 100 incubators will be set up across UP with at least one incubator in each district. Of them, 47 incubators have already been set up. Country’s largest incubation centre will come up in around 2.5 lakh square feet area in the state capital.

The Uttar Pradesh Electronics Corporation, the startup nodal agency appointed by the state government, has already identified a piece of land opposite the Lucknow airport for setting up the centre.

The corporation is in talks with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), a union government enterprise, to build and operate this incubation centre. The state government is also working with STPI to develop IT parks in various cities, including Meerut, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bundelkhand region and Bareilly among others.

The Prayagraj IT park has become operational and is functioning at full occupancy. Meerut IT park is in advance stages of development and is expected to be operational by November this year.