G. Kalyan Kumar

Close on the heels of the mega Investors Summit, the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a massive startup policy for the state with a corpus of Rs. 1,000 crores (US$155 million) backing it. The project aims to promote entrepreneurial culture in the state.

The Yogi government’s ambitious goal is to build the largest incubator in the country and make the state the epicenter of startup activities in India.

To promote the startup policy, the Uttar Pradesh (GoUP) has partnered with the apex chamber—the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi.

On March 26, they jointly organized a Roundtable discussion on “Disruptive Innovations, Start-ups, and Entrepreneurship” at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Noida, the UP tech city bordering Delhi.

The event gave a viable platform for all stakeholders --start-ups, senior state officials, investors, domain experts to share ideas on developing an effective start-up environment that boosts innovation and entrepreneurship.

Largest Incubator and New Software Parks

At the Roundtable, Mr. Sanjiv Saran, Additional Chief Secretary, IT & Electronics, Government of UP gave the outline of UP’s vision on building the largest incubator in the country.

Mr. Saran revealed that work is underway to start 7 new software technology parks in the state. For this, UP has tied up with many mentors and mentees in state’s top-notch centres of excellence such as IIT Kanpur, IIM Lucknow, IT hubs and FICCI.

Focus on Disruptive Technologies

The key objective is to enable incubators to identify and nurture disruptive technologies that can add to the growth of UP and scale up the existing talent mine.The UP government is confident that the goal is achievable given the state’s fame with Noida as a flagship hub of software and electronics exports.

The startup initiative marks a paradigm shift in the traditional role of the government as a mere employer. The policy envisages the state government’s role as a master facilitator that will foster entrepreneurship, build assets and create wealth for the people and the state.

More Job Creation Expected

Speaking at the event Nirankar Saxena, Deputy Secretary General, FICCI, elaborated the crucial role of FICCI in this venture.

For the project, FICCI will be offering its global network and expertise in scaling up, promoting and commercializing startup in the domestic and international market.

Saxena exuded the hope that the partnership between FICCI and the GoUP can generate at least 10,000 new jobs every year and uplift the rural population and boost the income of farmers.

Enormous potential exists in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and handicraft to serve as engines for small & medium enterprises (SMEs). They will also support low-income groups by helping in livelihood creation.

Top Mentors to Guide Start-Up Promoters

The Roundtable brought together more than 50 disruptive start-ups belonging to UP. The motivating thoughts shared by top industry mentors such as Yogesh Andlay, Co-founder, Nucleus Software and Polaris Financial Technology & Member, FICCI Tech Board; Dr Nikhil Agarwal, Former CEO, Innovation Society, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh and Founder, Entrepreneur Café & Member FICCI Tech Board and Padmaja Ruparel, President Indian Angel Network led to participants presenting precise points for more deliberation.

The Noida event elicited a significant turnout of startup leaders, dignitaries, and ecosystem enablers. They included Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Secretary, Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB); Anil Sinha, Advisor, Global Impact Investors Network and P K Kapur, Former Indian Ambassador to Chile among others.

The roundtable served as a meaningful dialogue with Government and industry representatives on the new initiatives required in making the ecosystem more vibrant and enhance the solutions.

New Steps Enhancing Ease of Doing Business Winding up the dialogue, Mr. Saran lauded the ideas thrown up in the discussions.

 The Deputy Chief Secretary explained some of the new policies of the state government that made doing business easy as more transparency and measures to cut delays have come in place.

 According to Mr. Saran, easier communication is made possible with industries across UP with the launch of an online portal. Similarly, digitization of tendering process and facilitation by gram panchayats has accelerated the project execution and procurement.

 The Noida Round Table was a clarion call by the UP government on its determination to build personnel and infrastructure to foster innovation, entrepreneurship and technology development.

UP Investors Summit 2018

The Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit (UPIS 2018) held on February 21-22 in Lucknow was a big success. It showcased the state’s investment opportunities and unraveled the potential in various sectors.

The UPSIS 2018 brought together many heads of governments, ministers, corporate sector leaders, senior policymakers, heads of international institutions and academia from all parts of the world. The event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gave a new impetus to the state government’s vision to add a fresh direction to the economic development of the state.