UP government signs agreement with USA-based Austin University to build 'smart city of knowledge'

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has signed an agreement with the US-based Austin University for the construction of a Smart City of Knowledge in the state, officials said.

To be built on 5,000 acres of land at a cost of USD 42 billion, the Knowledge City will include the best universities of the world, accord to an official statement. According to the state, Star Consortium will provide data centre and logistics services in the state while SLG Group will build Capital Data Centre. With these investment proposals and agreements, thousands of employment opportunities will be available to the people of the state.

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A target of attracting investments of Rs 10 lakh crore through the Global Investors Summit to be held in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow between February 10-12 has been fixed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Eight teams of ministers and officials are on tour to 18 countries to attract investments through road shows and trade shows.

The US-based Saloni Heart Foundation has also signed an MoU in the presence of Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna and additional chief secretary (Infrastructure and Industrial Development) Arvind Kumar in San Francisco. On the Knowledge City project, Ashraf Ali Mustafa, President of Austin University, said it is expected to completely change the picture of higher education in India and elsewhere.

Three agreements were also signed with fintech startup Falcon X CEO Murali Chirala. Its entrepreneurs have shown interest in setting up incubators and accelerators units under Invest UP, according to the statement. The delegation met members of the global entrepreneurship organisation TiE and Indians who contributed to the creation of Silicon Valley in San Francisco.

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The delegation appealed to them to make a Silicon Valley in Uttar Pradesh so that Indians can also take advantage of it. During a road show in Japan, Yukinori Kobe, director of Seiko Advance Limited, signed an MoU worth Rs 850 crore with the UP government to set up a manufacturing unit in Gautam Buddha Nagar. Through this agreement, more than 200 employment opportunities will be created for the people of the state. Industrial Development Minister Nand Gopal tweeted that his foreign tours were very successful in terms of attracting investments.

The road shows in Germany, Belgium and Sweden were highly successful. Within nine days, the UP government team toured three countries and investment proposals worth thousands of crores of rupees were received, according to the statement. This round of road shows and one-to-one business meetings in foreign countries will continue till December 19. After a road show in the Netherlands, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and IT and Electronics Department Minister Yogendra Upadhyay will visit France on Monday to attract investments.