Uttar Pradesh To Launch Biggest Incubator In India

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, is gearing up to establish the biggest incubator in India to provide assistance and funding to new businesses and startups. The announcement comes just a month after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath set up a Rs. 1000 crores startup fund to encourage startup schemes in the State.

The proposed incubator will be built near the Lucknow airport on a 40 acre space and can cost up to $ 615 million (Rs. 4,000 crores) to support companies registered in Uttar Pradesh The selected startups will be funded by the Small Industries Development Bank of India . 

Speaking about the incubator, the Additional Chief Secretary of IT and Electronics, Sanjeev Saran, said the State is looking to review their startup policy as well as the financial assistance policy to provide better assistance and funding to new businesses and startups. In an effort to promote entrepreneurship in the State in an extensive manner, CM Yogi announced the state would give about $39,000 (Rs. 25 lakhs) to educational institutions to encourage self employment through startup projects. The Uttar Pradesh Government is also looking to launch a dedicated mobile app for startups to further promote entrepreneurship in an extensive manner.

A number of states have begun promoting startups through various startup policies in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative Startup India, Standup India. The Government of Bihar also enforced a new Bihar Startup Policy 2017 in March and set up a startup fund as a trust to act as the nodal agency for the implementation of this policy.

Invest India, the parent organization of the Startup India initiative, also joined hands with the Government of Assam in July this year, to launch its first startup policy. The Karnataka government also selected 100 startups through their Elevate program for mentorship and funding. According to IT Minister of Karnataka, Priyank Kharge, nearly 60% or close to 4,200 out of 7,200 startups in the country have registered with their newly launched Startup Cell. The Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala governments have also launched similar programs in their respective states to help startups grow and develop.