Uttar Pradesh: Over half of state's registered startups led by women

Moreover, UP has planned to develop India's first artificial intelligence city in Lucknow, and set up an exclusive fund for the emerging technology to boost the AI ecosystem and foster AI startups

More than 50 per cent startups registered in Uttar Pradesh (UP) are led by women and the share shows the state's support for businesses, according to a senior bureaucrat.

 

Of more than 13,370 startups in UP, as recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), more than 6,812 are women-led. DPITT is a central government department under the Centre's Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

 

“More than 50 per cent of startups in UP have at least one woman director, which indicates an amenable ‘doing business’ environment and active support to new enterprises,” said the senior state government official.

 

Startups registered in the state have created more than 100,000 jobs. An ecosystem has fostered a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the state which has emerged as a hub for startups, said the official.

 

With its aim to become a $1 trillion economy in the next 4-5 years, the state government is revisiting existing policies and framing new ones to simplify rules to set up new industrial units.

 

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked officials to open startup facilitation desks in key industrial hubs of Kanpur and Noida.

 

The state’s startup policy of 2020, which was amended in 2022, aims at establishing 100 incubators, covering all the 75 districts.

 

Recently, Invest UP Chief Executive Officer Abhishek Prakash said the state is fortifying the single window clearance system for businesses and linking startups with big industries to boost the socioeconomic spectrum.

 

“Our single window clearance portal ‘Nivesh Mitra’ is the largest platform in India. It has the highest disposal rate of 97.22 per cent, which has also fetched us an award from the central government,” Prakash had said during a panel discussion in Lucknow.

 

Moreover, UP has planned to develop India’s first artificial intelligence (AI) city in Lucknow, and set up an exclusive fund for the emerging technology to boost the AI ecosystem and foster AI startups.

 

As of January 2024, more than 130,000 startups across India were recognised by the central government, of which Tier-II and -III cities accounted for 50 per cent of these enterprises.

 

As of March 2023, India was home to 108 unicorns with a valuation of about $340 billion. Of these, 44 unicorns with a valuation of $93 billion were founded in 2021, while 21 unicorns with a valuation of $27 billion were founded in 2022.