Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday (August 27, 2026) said the State’s population is not a challenge, but a great possibility, adding that it is a demographic dividend.

“Uttar Pradesh has the world’s most talented and energetic young workforce. It is the government’s responsibility to provide them with a platform. Foreign delegations, including ambassadors and high commissioners, ask me that Uttar Pradesh has a population of more than 25 crore, and therefore, a major challenge lies before you. I tell them that the greater the challenge, the greater the possibility, he said.

“The population of UP that people call a challenge, we consider it a demographic dividend. By linking their scale with skilling, we can utilise it as a demographic dividend,” said Mr. Adityanath, addressing young entrepreneurs and industry representatives at Lok Bhavan.

He distributed more than ₹3.42 crore in incentives to 107 startups and ₹1.79 crore to nine incubators under the Startup Policy. On the occasion, he also released the Uttar Pradesh Startup Policy 2026 booklet and launched the Uttar Pradesh Startup Mission portal. During the program, the state’s startup ecosystem was introduced through a short film.

CM Yogi discussed India’s startup ecosystem before and after 2014. He said, “Widespread changes are visible in India. Before 2014, there were only 500 startups in the country, while now their number has crossed 2.5 lakh. The startup ecosystem is now giving momentum to the flight of dreams of India’s youth,” he said.

“The situation in Uttar Pradesh was similar before 2017. At that time, there were a total of 120 startups here, but due to the encouragement and positive environment provided by the double-engine government, their number has now risen to more than 24,000. There are eight unicorns among them.”