Lucknow, August 27: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stated, "Uttar Pradesh has the world's most talented and energetic young workforce. It is the government's responsibility to provide them with a platform. Foreign delegations, including ambassadors and high commissioners, ask me that Uttar Pradesh has a population of more than 25 crore, and therefore, a major challenge lies before you. I tell them that the greater the challenge, the greater the possibility. The population of UP that people call a challenge, we consider it a demographic dividend. By linking their scale with skilling, we can utilize it as a demographic dividend."
The Chief Minister was addressing young entrepreneurs and industry representatives at Lok Bhavan on Thursday after distributing more than ₹3.42 crore in incentives to 107 startups and ₹1.79 crore to 9 incubators under the Startup Policy. On the occasion, he also released the Uttar Pradesh Startup Policy 2026 booklet and launched the Uttar Pradesh Startup Mission portal. During the program, the state's startup ecosystem was introduced through a short film.
CM Yogi discussed India's startup ecosystem before and after 2014. He stated, "Widespread changes are visible in India. Before 2014, there were only 500 startups in the country, while now their number has crossed 2.5 lakh. The startup ecosystem is now giving momentum to the flight of dreams of India's youth. The situation in Uttar Pradesh was similar before 2017. At that time, there were a total of 120 startups here, but due to the encouragement and positive environment provided by the double-engine government, their number has now risen to more than 24 thousand. There are 8 unicorns among them."
He added, "Under the UP Startup Policy, 107 startups and 9 incubators are receiving incentives today. Under the UP Startup Policy, 12 new incubators are also being granted recognition."
The CM stated, "I had visited several startups of ‘Bharat Innovates’. Through their work, they have played a major role in changing the identity and perception of UP."
The CM referred to the negative perception of UP before 2017 and also highlighted the disorder that prevailed here. He stated, "When I traveled outside the state, I too experienced as an MP that people looked at us with suspicion. The perception was that when you started seeing potholes on the roads and darkness due to lack of electricity, understand that UP had arrived. There used to be disturbances before festivals."
He further informed, "Schools and colleges, and markets would remain closed for months. The common people were compelled to live under the shadow of curfew. At that time, more than 700 riots took place in 5 years. Under those circumstances, discussing employment, incubators, education and innovation within Uttar Pradesh was nothing more than a dream."
The CM stated, "An ecosystem for education, employment, standup, startup, incubators, etc. is created when the mindset of the common people is also seen in accordance with the perception. We should be mentally prepared to create a conducive environment. The government should have a positive mindset and remain connected with the common people, but before 2017, there was neither a policy nor the government's will. People were compelled to live in a strange environment, and as a result, Uttar Pradesh, with its unlimited possibilities, became ‘BIMARU’."
He said, ‘Aadhi Aabadi’ is operating half of the startups. The government provided funds and support to encourage every proposal received from IIT Kanpur, BHU, Triple IT, AKTU and IIM. To encourage the startup ecosystem, the government had arranged a Fund of Funds with SIDBI in 2019. Although there were some impediments along the way, it was later changed and expanded rapidly.
The CM supported providing new incentives for new startups. He stated, "Under the new policy, we have recently expanded this in a good manner."
The CM called upon higher educational institutions not to remain limited to traditional courses alone, but to provide an excellent environment for innovation and R&D in universities and institutes. The government has provided separate funds to all universities to encourage innovation and research activities. The objective is to improve Uttar Pradesh's image further.
He stated, "The efforts we made in 2017 and 2018-19 are now showing positive results. The ‘BIMARU UP’ of before 2017 has moved from the bottom three to being among the country's top three economies. In 9 years, UP's economy, per capita income, women's workforce participation, and the number of large industries have tripled. ‘New UP’ is not going to retreat, but is proving itself as the fastest emerging economy."
The CM informed, "IIT Kanpur wanted to establish a Center of Excellence for MedTech and drone technology, IIT BHU wanted to work with UP Agri, and SGPGI also wanted to develop a Center of Excellence. The government told all of them that wherever there is a need in areas such as emerging technology, quantum computing, space technology, drone technology, robotics, green hydrogen, etc., the government stands ready to provide every support. We are operating/building more than a dozen Centers of Excellence."
The CM expressed hope that UP's presence in the startup ecosystem would be visible in proportion to its population. In India, UP's share by population is 1/6, while by startups it is 1/10, meaning that 20 percent of India's total startups should be in UP. We will have to prepare for this.
He called on all startups, including those developing Centers of Excellence in deep tech, to come forward to accelerate the ecosystem and give wings to the dreams of the youth.
The CM stated, "There is no problem of land or security in UP. We have overcome policy paralysis. UP has dedicated policies. The possibilities available here in every sector are unmatched anywhere in the country and the world. If required, the amount of the Fund of Funds arranged with SIDBI will be increased. The government will help in providing land on lease and space under the plug-and-play model, but you will have to accelerate efforts to expand the startup ecosystem."
The CM expressed hope that, together with the double-engine government, everyone would cooperate in providing UP with the best platform. He assured that, in the interest of the youth, the UP government will encourage every step you take and will provide every possible assistance in expanding the startup ecosystem in UP.
On this occasion, Finance Minister Suresh Khanna, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Sunil Kumar Sharma, Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner Deepak Kumar, Principal Secretary Alok Kumar, AKTU Vice Chancellor Prof. JP Pandey, among others, were present.
