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Young talent UP’s biggest strength, Lko to be established as as one of country’s leading AI innovation cities: Yogi
Speaking at an event marking 10 years of HCLTech in Lucknow, Adityanath said the government would work with industry to build a strong innovation ecosystem in the state capital. He said Lucknow should not remain limited to IT services but emerge as a major centre for artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, cybersecurity, computing technology and deep tech.
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Terming Uttar Pradesh’s young and talented workforce its biggest strength, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said the state government aimed to leverage it to establish Lucknow as one of India’s leading AI innovation cities, supporting at least 50 AI-focused startups in the city over the next five years.
Speaking at an event marking 10 years of HCLTech in Lucknow, Adityanath said the government would work with industry to build a strong innovation ecosystem in the state capital. He said Lucknow should not remain limited to IT services but emerge as a major centre for artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, cybersecurity, computing technology and deep tech.
Highlighting Uttar Pradesh’s demographic advantage, the chief minister said the state now had India’s youngest workforce, describing it as its greatest strength and biggest asset.
“A decade ago, our youth had to leave for Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru or Hyderabad in search of careers. Today, young people from Uttar Pradesh are choosing Lucknow, and talent from across the world is coming here,” he said.
The chief minister said the state’s identity had also changed under his government. “Earlier there was talk of ‘one district, one mafia’. Today the discussion is about one district, one medical college, one district, one product and one district, one cuisine,” he remarked.
He also highlighted improvements in infrastructure and connectivity, saying the nearly 1,200-km stretch from Ballia to Bijnor could now be covered in about 10 hours, compared with several days a decade ago.
On the economic front, Adityanath claimed that Uttar Pradesh now accounted for around 55% of India’s mobile phone manufacturing and nearly 60% of electronic component production. IT/ITeS exports, he said, had increased from ₹12,000-15,000 crore to more than ₹1 lakh crore, with a target of ₹2.5 lakh crore in four years. Electronics exports had risen from ₹3,800 crore to ₹45,000 crore and were targeted to reach ₹2 lakh crore by 2030.
He said the IT sector was no longer confined to Noida, with IT parks coming up in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Meerut and Agra. Seven software technology parks were already functioning, while new ones were being developed in Varanasi, Bareilly, Kanpur and Gorakhpur, he added.
Gautam Buddha Nagar has 12 IT/ITeS special economic zones, he said, while the new startup policy envisages U-Hubs in Noida and Lucknow focused on deep technology. Work is also progressing on India’s first AI city and a comprehensive AI ecosystem in Lucknow.
Taking a swipe at critics, the chief minister recalled the Opposition’s reaction to the Digital India initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
“Opposition parties had mocked the idea and questioned how a digital revolution was possible in India. The same scepticism was directed at Jan Dhan accounts. Yet today, technology decisively ensures that benefits reach the poor through direct benefit transfers,” he said.
