Uttar Pradesh emerges as a Startup Hub with Seven Centres of Excellence Driving Global Innovation

The Uttar Pradesh government is working towards developing the state as the country’s leading startup hub. Under the Start in UP policy, the Yogi Adityanath government has approved seven ultra-modern Centres of Excellence (CoEs), for which a total of ₹27.18 crore has been released so far.

With the support of these centres, innovation, research, technological development, and employment generation are gaining fresh momentum across Uttar Pradesh. Officials said on Sunday that through these Centres of Excellence, hundreds of startups are receiving incubation support, while thousands of youths are benefiting from skill development, new employment opportunities, and a boost to indigenous technology development.

Such hubs have been a massive support for the start ups not merely by lending technical support but on top of that, they have been instrumental in raising the competitiveness of the start ups at the global level.

The establishment of Excellences Centres at Gautam Buddh Nagar, Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Saharanpur, and Ghaziabad are being backed by premier institutions like IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, IIM Lucknow, STPI Lucknow, and AKGEC Ghaziabad.

Consequently, startups have become capable of leveraging the facilities of world, class laboratories, supercomputing and AI/ML platforms, testing facilities, gaining mentorship, and thereby developing robust linkages with the industry.

Under the Uttar Pradesh government’s startup policy, each Centre of Excellence is eligible to receive grant-in-aid—covering both capital and operational expenses—of up to ₹10 crore over a period of five years from the date of establishment.

The government’s objective is to make these centres self-reliant within five years while strengthening the state’s startup ecosystem in the long term.

In partnership with Microsoft, IIM Lucknow's Enterprise Incubation Centre (EIC) is running the Blockchain Technology Centre of Excellence set up in Gautam Buddh Nagar. The centre on a 10, 000, square, foot ultra, modern campus will incubate 100 startups over the next five years.

Startups are being given high end infrastructure, seed funding up to 75 lakh, expert guidance and access to angel and venture capital networks, thereby creating a strong and sustainable blockchain ecosystem in the state.

The Medical Electronics and Health Informatics (MedTech) Centre of Excellence in Lucknow is a joint initiative of STPI Lucknow, SGPGI, the Uttar Pradesh IT and Electronics Department, AIMED, AMTZ, and KIHT.

Its objective is to promote medical device and health technology startups, reduce import dependence, and advance the goals of Make in India and Digital India. Startups here receive support from technical experts, medical professionals, mentorship, and venture funding.

The 5G/6G Telecom Centre of Excellence run by IIT Kanpur in Kanpur Nagar is looking forward to the research and startup development of next generation telecommunications.

The centre is well equipped with top notch RF laboratories, AI/ML servers, supercomputing tools, and testing facilities. It is working towards making India a global leader in telecom innovation.

In a similar manner, the AI and Innovation, based Entrepreneurship (AIIDE) Centre of Excellence which is located in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), was established with the help of IIT Kanpur and FICCI. Every year it delivers to 50 AI based startups the training, mentorship, and investor connect opportunities.

The 5G/6G Ubiquitous Wireless Communication Centre of Excellence operated by IIT Roorkee in Saharanpur is aligned with India’s 6G vision. Meanwhile, the Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence established by AKGEC in Ghaziabad is preparing MSMEs and startups for global competition through advanced 3D printing and digital manufacturing technologies.

The UAV Design, Training, and Capacity Building Centre of Excellence run by IIT Kanpur in Kanpur Nagar is providing various services to drone technology startups including technical assistance, testing, design validation, and consultancy. Having a DGCA, approved flight testing zone along with state of the, art labs, the centre is making moves to establish Uttar Pradesh as a leading hub in drone technology.