Lucknow: The UP cabinet on Monday approved the Data Centre Policy, 2026, seeking to position the state as a leading destination for AI-ready and green data centres while attracting investments of more than Rs 2 lakh crore. The policy aims to create over two gigawatts of additional data centre capacity, significantly expanding the state’s digital infrastructure to support emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.The new policy replaces the Data Centre Policy, 2021, which had targeted investments of Rs 30,000 crore and 900 MW of capacity. Officials said projects worth around Rs 21,343 crore, with a combined capacity of 644 MW, have already been approved under the earlier policy, including six data centre parks and two standalone data centre units, of which seven projects are operational.Principal secretary, IT and electronics, Alok Kumar said the policy has been designed to make UP globally competitive in the fast-growing data centre sector. “The Data Centre Policy, 2026, provides a future-ready framework to establish Uttar Pradesh as a preferred destination for green and AI-ready data centres. It is expected to attract large investments, generate employment and strengthen the state’s digital economy while contributing to our goal of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy,” Kumar said.The 2026 policy offers a range of financial and non-financial incentives for data centre parks, data centre units and edge data centres, including capital and interest subsidies, concessions on land, stamp duty and electricity charges, and infrastructure support.To encourage AI infrastructure, the policy introduces special incentives for projects deploying high-performance AI computing capacity. Green-certified data centres will receive additional sustainability-linked benefits, while edge data centres will be eligible for reimbursement of part of their internet connectivity charges during the first three years of operation.
