UP govt explores investment opportunities with Planet Labs and CtrlS Data Centres Ltd; Inks MoU with AB InBev for Rs 1,000 cr investments

Photo: SNS


Uttar Pradesh is showcasing its business-friendly policies to invite and attract investment to promote ‘Brand Uttar Pradesh’ at the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

The state is highlighting its expanding industrial capabilities and immense investment potential.

The UP delegation, led by Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh, held a meeting with William Marshall, CEO and Co-Founder of Planet Labs, at the Invest UP Pavilion.

Planet Labs is a leading aerospace and data analytics company specialising in high-resolution Earth observation and geospatial solutions. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Planet Labs operates the world’s largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites, capturing daily images of the planet’s entire surface.

The UP government is set to facilitate the establishment of a data lab by Planet Labs in the state. To support this initiative, the government will provide various investment incentives under policies such as the Uttar Pradesh Investment Promotion Policy 2022, UP FDI Policy 2023, IT/ITes Policy 2022, and UP Data Centre Policy 2021. These incentives include priority access to land in IT parks, tax exemptions, streamlined approvals, collaborative partnerships, R&D support, and world-class logistics infrastructure.

In addition to Planet Labs, CtrlS Data Centres Ltd. is also exploring opportunities to establish data centres in Lucknow and Noida.

A meeting was held at the WEF in Davos between CtrlS and the Uttar Pradesh government delegation, led by Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Founder & CEO of CtrlS. Founded in 2007, CtrlS specialises in Tier-4 data centres, offering co-location, cloud, disaster recovery, and managed hosting services. The company operates state-of-the-art facilities across India, ensuring 24/7 uptime, scalability, and innovation in data management. CtrlS is committed to sustainability with green-certified data centres supporting the growing digital infrastructure needs of enterprises.

Meanwhile, UP Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and Kartikeya Sharma, President of India Affairs at Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), a leading global beverage company headquartered in Belgium, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to invest Rs 1,000 crore in UP for setting up a new manufacturing plant.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of the world’s largest brewing companies, is renowned for its global presence and iconic beer brands such as Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois. With operations in over 50 countries and a presence in more than 100 markets worldwide, AB InBev’s decision to invest in UP represents a significant milestone in the state’s industrial and economic development.