The Uttar Pradesh government is working towards making the state a digital and AI hub. Under this, data center parks will be built in 8 cities including Noida, Lucknow, Kanpur. Investment proposals worth about Rs 2 lakh crore have come forward and about 50 thousand jobs are likely to be created.
Lucknow. Under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh government is working rapidly towards making the state a major digital and artificial intelligence hub of the country. Under this strategy, a plan has been made to develop 8 big data center parks in the state.
The government aims to attract large-scale investment and create new employment opportunities through these projects. Technical experts believe that with the development of these data center parks, Uttar Pradesh will play an important role in the digital economy of the country. Also, in future it can emerge as a major center for companies related to AI, cloud computing and digital services.
Data center parks will be developed in these major cities
According to the government’s plan, these data center parks will be developed in many major cities of the state. These include Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway area, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Agra. Of these, the process of identification and allocation of land in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway areas has progressed significantly. Land has also been allotted to some companies, while in other cities the work of land marking and preparation of master plan is going on.
Interest in investment from national and international companies
Many big national and international companies have shown interest in investing in the data center sector. These include companies like HCL Technologies, Adani Group, NTT Data, Yotta Infrastructure, Sterlite Technologies and Sify Technologies. Investment proposals worth about Rs 2 lakh crore have come forward from these companies in the state. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed for many projects and some projects have reached the construction stage.
Special focus on power supply and energy system
A large amount of electricity is required to operate a data center. Keeping this in mind, the state government has planned to meet the demand of about 900 MW electricity. For this, new sub-stations will be established and the transmission network will be strengthened. Also, dedicated power supply will be ensured to the data center parks. The government is also promoting the use of renewable energy, to make data center operations environment friendly.
Special incentives and single window system for investors
The state government has also set several incentives under the data center policy to attract investors. This includes capital subsidies, concession in electricity duty, exemption in stamp duty and government support in infrastructure development. Apart from this, Single Window System has also been implemented to provide fast and transparent permission process to the investors, thereby making it easier for the investors to get the approval of the projects.
Possibility of creating more than 50 thousand employment opportunities
Development of these 8 data center parks will create huge employment opportunities in the state. According to estimates, about 50 thousand direct employment and a large number of indirect employment opportunities can be created. The government believes that most of the phases of these projects will be completed within the next 3 to 5 years. With this, Uttar Pradesh can be included among the leading states of the country in the field of digital infrastructure and technological investment.