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UP govt signs MoU with Austin Consulting Group for ‘knowledge smart city’
The UP government statement said the knowledge city project proposed by the Austin Consulting Group will host the best universities
The Uttar Pradesh government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Austin Consulting Group (ACG) which expressed interest to develop an Austin Smart City of Knowledge proposed to be developed on over 5,000 acres of land in 5 phases, according to the state government.
“In first phase, 1,000 acres of land will be developed with an investment of USD 7 billion. In all 5 phases, the group is intending to invest USD 42 billion in this project,” the government said in a statement on Thursday.
The UP government said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Uttar Pradesh finance minister Suresh Khanna and additional chief secretary (Infrastructure and Industrial Development) Arvind Kumar on behalf of the government during the team’s visit to the United States of America as part of efforts to attract investors ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit scheduled in February.
The UP government statement said the proposed knowledge city will host the best universities. “Besides, Star Consortium will provide data centre and logistics services in the state whereas SLG will build a capital data centre”, the government statement said.
“The best universities will engage in this project. This project is expected to completely change the picture of higher education in India and elsewhere,” the government statement said, quoting ACG president Ashraf Al Moustafa.
According to the statement, the MoU was jointly signed by Moustafa, Austin University (AU) chancellor Dr William Kent and Dr James Kennedy, Chief Operating Officer, ACG-AU. It added that the two sides decided to enter into a standard MoU that acknowledges their intent to invest and reflects the government’s agreement to facilitate the company to obtain necessary approvals.
The state government said three MoUs were also signed with Falcon X CEO Murali Chirala, which includes one to establish a centre in Noida by the fintech startup company. The US-based Saloni Heart Foundation has also signed an MoU.
The state government also signed an MoU in Japan to set up a manufacturing unit in Gautam Buddha Nagar while in Singapore, a state-owned UP industrial development UPSIDC signed an MoU for a data centre and logistic services in Uttar Pradesh, the UP government said.
To be sure, not all investment proposals or MoUs signed by governments translate into real projects.
(This article has been updated. A previous version of this article said the UP government signed the agreement with Austin University)
