Minister for IT & Electronics Sunil Sharma said, “Under the new policy, the state government has made provisions for comprehensive financial and institutional support for startups from the initial stage by scaling up. The sustenance allowance has been increased from Rs 17,500 per month for one year to Rs 20,000 per month for two years. Prototype grants have been doubled from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, while seed funding has been increased from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. Under special circumstances, seed funding may be enhanced up to Rs 50 lakh.”

The new policy introduces a range of financial incentives to strengthen startups, he added.

These include reimbursement of up to Rs 2 crore for patents and quality certification, matching grants of up to Rs 5 crore, 4 percent interest subsidy on term loans of up to Rs 2 crore, and reimbursement of EPF and ESI contributions. These measures are expected to ease early-stage financial challenges and enable startups to scale more rapidly, the government said.

The government has decided to extend special incentives to deep-tech startups working in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, quantum technology, space technology, and other emerging technologies. Such startups will be eligible for prototype assistance of up to Rs 20 lakh, seed funding of up to Rs 30 lakh, patience capital support of up to Rs 100 crore, and financial assistance of up to 40 percent for research and development activities.

The new policy also provides an increased support to incubators to strengthen the startup ecosystem. Capital grants for incubators have been increased from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.25 crore, while incubators in Purvanchal and Bundelkhand will be eligible for grants of up to Rs 1.50 crore.

Operational expenditure grants have been increased from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 40 lakh per year. Additional incentives will also be provided to high-performing incubators and startups that successfully raise investments through them, the government stated.

To promote cutting-edge research and innovation, the state will establish 20 new Centres of Excellence (CoEs) which will focus on artificial intelligence, machine learning, space technology, healthtech, agritech, robotics, and other emerging technologies.

Financial assistance for the Centres of Excellence has also been increased from Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore. The government will establish a state-level Deep-Tech U-Hub, providing startups with an integrated platform for incubation, investment, industry collaboration, mentorship, and advanced laboratory facilities.

Sharma said, “Uttar Pradesh has made significant progress in the startup sector, with around 17,000 startups currently registered in the state. To further strengthen the ecosystem and improve coordination among startups, incubators, and Centres of Excellence, a Startup Mission Directorate will be established in Uttar Pradesh, providing greater institutional support for startup growth.”

To be constituted under the Societies Registration Act, the Uttar Pradesh Startup Mission will function under the administrative control of the Department of IT & Electronics as the nodal agency. The Mission will also facilitate better coordination among investors, industry, academic institutions, and startups while ensuring effective implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of various startup initiatives.

According to the government, the objective of the Data Centre policy is to develop Uttar Pradesh as a green, AI-ready, and globally competitive data centre hub. Under the policy, a target has been set to develop an additional capacity of 2 Gigawatts and attract investment of more than Rs 2 lakh crore.

IT and Electronics Minister Sunil Sharma stated, “The new policy places special emphasis on GPU-based infrastructure, energy efficiency, and sustainable development. In addition, extra incentives have been proposed for the Bundelkhand and Purvanchal regions. The policy includes provisions such as incentives for Tier/Rating-3 and 4 Data Centers, AI Compute Booster incentives, and Green and Sustainable Operations incentives.”

He said that a world-class Data Centre ecosystem will be developed in the state and information technology and other IT-based units around data centre units will increase employment opportunities.

The minister added, “The government first implemented the Uttar Pradesh Data Centre Policy in January 2021, which was subsequently amended on November 7, 2022. Under the Uttar Pradesh Data Centre Policy-2021 (First Amendment-2022), out of 6 data centre parks and 2 data centre units with a capacity of less than 40 Megawatts involving an investment of approximately Rs 21,343 crore, 7 projects have already become operational.”