UP bolstering economic developmentUP CM Yogi Adityanath

Virendra Singh Rawat

To catalyse Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and bolster AI research in Uttar Pradesh, the state government is mulling over an exclusive AI policy framework.

The proposed UP AI Policy 2024 will be piloted by the state Information Technology (IT) department. It will confabulate with all the stakeholders before submitting the AI policy draft to the state cabinet for approval.

Moreover, the UP government has planned to develop India’s first AI City in Lucknow, and also set up an exclusive AI Fund to boost the state AI ecosystem and handhold AI startups.

The UP government will offer a host of incentives and sops to companies investing in the AI domain. Such exemptions would be applicable on capital investment and stamp duty.

Chairing a meeting here to review the progress of UP’s flagship $trillion economy roadmap, chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked officials to formulate policies for AI and drones.

Since, the land for the AI City in Lucknow has been earmarked, the AI policy should be finalised to speed up the project, he underlined.

“We have also received proposals for drone manufacturing and training. To harness the potential in this sector, a drone policy should be framed as early as possible,” the CM said adding that startup facilitation wings should be operated in Kanpur and Noida.

Recently, UP has accorded industry status to the IT sector to promote IT companies across the entire value chain from manufacturing to services, and create local jobs.

Gautam Buddha Nagar district (Noida) has emerged as an IT hub of global standards over the past few years, he claimed.

Meanwhile, Yogi said owing to a slew of strategic steps taken by his government over the past seven years, UP has witnessed a record growth in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

“The GSDP, which was Rs 16.45 trillion in 2021-22 has risen to more than Rs 25.48 trillion in 2023-24,” he said adding the government is targetting a GSDP of Rs 32 trillion in the current financial year 2024-25.

In 2023-24, the state clocked a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of almost 16 percent, while the goal for the current fiscal is 25 percent to put UP on a path of high growth to achieve the $trillion target in the next 4-5 years.

Meanwhile, global consultancy major Deloitte India gave a detailed presentation to the CM regarding the current and projected growth trajectory of UP and different departments.

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