UP Cabinet clears data centre policy; aims at Rs 20,000 cr investment

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Monday approved a data centre policy to further give a boost to proposals for setting up data centres in the state, in line with the centre’s push for localising storage of data. The policy aims at bringing in investment worth Rs 20,000 crore.

The policy that has been in the works comes at a time the state is seeing interest from many players wanting to set up data centres in UP. Last year, the state allotted land to the Hiranandani group’s Yotta Infrastructure that will be investing Rs 7,000 crore in the Greater Noida region.

Another firm NTT India recently got allotted six acres of land for bringing up 70 MW of capacity data centre, again in the Greater Noida region. The state has also evinced interest from STT Global Data Centres India (formerly known as Tata Communications Data Centres) to develop 18 MW data centre with an investment of Rs 600 crore in Noida.

The policy aims at developing 250 MW of data centre industries in the state and setting up at least three modern private data centre parks. Under the policy, investors will be given provisions dealing with capital, interest rate, subsidies on land procurement , as well as non financial incentives. Special incentives will also be provided for proposals coming to the backward regions of Bundelkhand and Purvanchal.

The state government, in a press note said that setting up data centre parks will also lead to various information technology and related units coming up in the vicinity, leading to an expected overall direct employment of 4,000 people and indirect employment of 20,000 people. It also said that it will give global data centre players like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM an opportunity to come and set shop in the state.

While the centre has prepared a draft on a data centre policy, Telangana is another state apart from UP that already has a data centre policy. The Business News