AI City to be set up in Lucknow: Minister

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh will soon emerge as India's premier AI hub with the establishment of an AI City in Lucknow, said skill development and entrepreneurship minister Kapil Dev Agarwal during a conference on ‘UP AI Synergy Conclave' organised by Chandigarh University, Lucknow. Agarwal said, "UP will play a major role in accomplishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of making India a $5 trillion economy. Investments being made in the field of AI will help us move ahead globally."The event aligned with the IndiaAI Mission brought together a diverse array of stakeholders, including policymakers, global AI experts, educators and students. In the conclave, Chandigarh University announced that it will invest Rs 2,500 crore to promote high-level AI education and startups in Lucknow.Rajya Sabha MP and Chancellor of Chandigarh University Satnam Singh Sandhu said that "at a time when the world is looking towards India, our country under the PM's leadership is becoming the centre of the global AI mission." Sandhu added, "We will be the first to launch India's first AI-enabled multi-disciplinary education system, which will prepare students for the future in Chandigarh University, Lucknow."Founder of Change Engine (an AI-powered platform) Varun Agarwal said, "India has to make strategic investments in next-generation AI technologies to move ahead in the AI competition at the global level." Citing the example of China's ‘DeepSeek AI' model, he said, "India should also develop its own advanced AI models and that we should not just copy the current technologies but should see which technologies will be effective in the upcoming years and invest in them now."Stating that India is setting the global framework for AI development, Maya Sharma, AI policy expert of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), said, "India's AI policy is being considered by other countries, which shows how India is building a strong AI ecosystem under the PM's leadership."