The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday signed 15 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with companies and talent-development partners and issued letters of comfort to five investors at the UP GCC Innovation Summit-2026, as it seeks to position the state as a destination for Global Capability Centres (GCCs). The initiative aims to attract corporate investment, strengthen technology-led operations and generate high-value employment.
The state government’s outreach brings together companies, educational institutions and skill-development partners to support the expansion of global business services, research, technology and innovation. The agreements cover the establishment of new GCCs, expansion of existing operations and training programmes designed to prepare young people for industry requirements.
EY, MetLife and other companies sign agreements
According to a state government statement, agreements were signed with companies including EY GDS, AML RightSource, Computacenter, MetLife, DSV, DAMAC, Altruist and Smartworks. The partnerships are intended to facilitate new GCC investments and expand existing business operations in Uttar Pradesh.
Smartworks is establishing two dedicated campuses in Lucknow, potentially adding to the state capital’s commercial infrastructure for businesses seeking office space for technology and corporate operations.
The government also issued letters of comfort to Havells India, Ameriprise India, MetLife Global Operations Support Center, LG Soft India and WSP Consultants India. However, approval from the industrial development minister and formal issuance of the letter for WSP Consultants India were still pending, the statement said.
Letters of comfort form part of the investment facilitation process, but they should not be treated as equivalent to completed investments or operational facilities.
IITs, IIMs join industry collaboration initiative
The summit also saw MoUs exchanged with 13 educational institutions, including IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, IIM Lucknow, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, Aligarh Muslim University, Shiv Nadar University, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Lucknow University, IIIT Allahabad, IIIT Lucknow, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University, Amity University and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University.
The partnerships aim to align academic training with industry demand, strengthen research and innovation, and improve the availability of skilled talent for global companies.
Paytm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Barclays, IBM and Naukri also entered into partnerships for training and skill-development programmes. Paytm signed two MoUs under the initiative.
AI, talent and research central to GCC strategy
Organised by the Alumni Association of IIT Kanpur in collaboration with Invest UP and HCLTech, the summit brought together industry representatives, policymakers, investors and technology experts.
Seven thematic sessions examined GCC investment destinations, artificial intelligence-driven operations, product-led innovation, startup collaboration, university partnerships and future skills. Discussions also focused on strengthening product development and research capabilities to meet the evolving requirements of multinational companies.
For Uttar Pradesh, the commercial opportunity lies in converting these agreements into actual investment, operational centres and sustained employment. The scale of that opportunity will depend on project implementation, hiring commitments and the pace at which companies establish or expand their operations in the state.