'Work underway to develop India's 1st AI city in Lucknow': CM Yogi Adityanath

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that the state government is working to develop the country's first artificial intelligence (AI) city in Lucknow and also foster an AI ecosystem in the district, urging young professionals to join the initiative.

The Chief Minister made the statement while addressing the 10th anniversary event of HCL Tech in Lucknow.

Maintaining that Uttar Pradesh's greatest strength has been its land, Chief Minister Adityanath said: "Today, I say that alongside our precious land, we possess the youngest workforce. The talent of this young workforce is also our greatest strength."

"HCL has now completed ten years here—marking the first milestone of a journey in which Lucknow has demonstrated to the world that, given the right opportunities, the youth of Uttar Pradesh will not lag behind anyone," he added.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Digital India', CM Adityanath said: "At that time, opposition parties in the country mocked the Prime Minister's vision for Digital India. They used to laugh, saying how will this happen in India?"

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister recalled that the Opposition had also ridiculed the initiative when 'Jan Dhan' accounts were being opened.

"People laughed at the time, dismissing them as merely "empty accounts for the poor". And today, DBT—Direct Benefit Transfer—has realised the dream of 'Antyodaya' (upliftment of the last person)," he said.

He asserted that now if funds meant for the poor are released from Delhi or Lucknow, they will go entirely into the account of the specific poor person for whom the money was intended.

"Now, no one in between can skim off any 'cut money'. This is the marvel of technology; the marvel of Digital India. But it requires the resolve to make it happen," CM Adityanath said.

The Chief Minister also credited HCL Tech for helping village women and self-help groups move towards self-reliance and for transforming the lives of local children through their residential campuses and schools in districts like Sitapur and Bulandshahr.

"Over the past 10-11 years, they have extended their (HCL Tech) programmes to more than 50 lakh (5 million) people and over 3,000 villages across Uttar Pradesh. This serves as an example of how the benefits of technology and development can reach even the person at the very last rung of society," CM Adityanath said.

He added that this is important because development no longer means merely building large campuses in big cities.

The Chief Minister noted that today software companies are now looking beyond just Noida to Lucknow.

"Our IT parks are now operational in Kanpur, Prayagraj, Meerut, and Agra as well," he said.

He mentioned that seven Software Technology Parks are currently functional with new IT parks being constructed in Varanasi, Bareilly, Kanpur, and Gorakhpur.

"This means IT is no longer confined to the National Capital Region; it is no longer limited to just that region. It has reached Eastern Uttar Pradesh and is expanding into the Bundelkhand region as well. Gautam Buddha Nagar is also home to 12 IT and ITES Special Economic Zones (SEZs)," CM Adityanath said.

"Under our new startup policy, we have decided to develop Noida and Lucknow as Deep Tech hubs, and work on this is progressing steadily. We are also working rapidly on plans to establish the country's first AI City in Lucknow and to foster an AI ecosystem," the Chief Minister added.

CM Adityanath urged young professionals come together to become part of this initiative to establish Lucknow as one of India's leading innovation cities

"I have also extended an offer to HCL regarding this. (The goal is) to establish at least 50 world-class AI startups in Lucknow, strengthening them and helping them reach the global market. We are ready and committed to providing full support for building a robust innovation ecosystem," he said.

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