Yogi Govt to set up 7 more data centres, turn UP into data centre hub

LUCKNOW, (ANI): Uttar Pradesh is set to emerge as the hub of data centres in India with the opening of the first data centre of North India in Greater Noida recently and the Yogi Government deciding to set up 7 more in the state in future, said an official press release.

According to the statement, the proposal for amendments in the Data Center 2021 policy to facilitate opening more data centres in UP got Cabinet’s approval on Thursday.

This will enable the government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to open data centres not only in Noida and Greater Noida but also in other districts. The data centres’ capacity, will, however, be less than that of the capacity of the newly opened data centre in Greater Noida. The government will arrange land grants for all the proposed data centres. Also, in case of supply from the dual feeder, the government will bear the cost of one. Significantly, the Cabinet on Thursday approved two proposals related to the IT department.

The Government has clearly instructed departments to make the required changes in their policies ahead of the Global Investors Summit so that they are better than other states and more investor-friendly. The capacity of the Data centres’ is to be increased to 900 MW Additional Chief Secretary (IT & Electronics) Arvind Kumar informed that some important amendments have been made in the data centre policy in view of the 1 trillion dollar economy goal.

According to Kumar, targets set under the Data Centre Policy have already been achieved ahead of schedule and therefore it is being scaled up. “The capacity of data centres, for example, was fixed at 250 MW earlier, but there have been proposals for increasing it to 636 MW. In such a situation, we will increase the target capacity of data centres to 900 MW,” he said.

Arvind Kumar further added that apart from this, a policy has been prepared for small data centres so that they can be opened in other districts as well. Even if those data centres are not of the Noida scale, they will be approved. Furthermore, the definition of FAR for data centres has been changed so that maps can be passed quickly. The Government has also provided facilities for partial completion and increasing electricity connections. Apart from this, funding of up to Rs 10 crore will also be provided in the field of the Center of Excellence data centre. These changes will not only increase investment but will also come faster. This policy will be valid for 5 years.

In addition, the Cabinet approved proposals for revision of the Start-up Policy. Under this, 5 new centres of excellence will be opened in the state of which three have already been opened. Funds up to Rs 10 crore will be provided by the government for the same. These 5 centres of excellence will be opened in new areas including emerging fields like quantum computing, 3D printing, 5G, virtual reality and space tech among others.

Arrangements have also been made to promote innovative culture in schools through awareness camps and accelerated programmes. The sustainability allowance has been increased from Rs 15,000 to 17,500. Now a grant of Rs 5 lakh will also be available for making prototypes. Earlier this system was not there. Fifty per cent more incentives will be provided to start-ups in sectors such as those affecting the rural environment, recycling waste, environmental protection and renewable energy. Apart from this, the definition of women-participatory start-ups has also been fixed. Under this, it is necessary to have 26 per cent of women participate in start-ups.

As per officials, two more resolutions related to IT have also been passed. Of these, three investment proposals have been approved in the IT Policy 2017. One of them is Microsoft, while the other is MQ and the third is Paytm.

These three companies will invest in Noida. Microsoft will invest Rs 2186 crore, MACQ Rs 483 crore and Paytm will invest Rs 638 crore. Their construction activities have already started. Through this investment, 14185 people will get employment.

In addition, two investment proposals for data centres were also approved. Singapore-based company STP will invest Rs 1130 crore in setting up a data centre in Noida, while another company SKBR will invest Rs 2692 crore.

Through both projects, 4,000 people will get employment. The Uttar Pradesh cabinet has approved the opening of three new universities in the state. The famous JSS University of Karnataka will open its branch in Noida, SD Singh University in Fatehgarh-Farrukhabad and SDGI Global University in Ghaziabad. Letters of intent have been issued to these three universities for setting up their branches in UP. Soon many other universities may also follow suit. (ANI)