Uttar Pradesh is putting round-the-clock cyber defence behind its expanding digital government. The State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Tuesday, 27 October, approved a cybersecurity project worth around ₹104 crore and named IIT Kanpur as the implementing agency for the next three years.
The proposal sets up a dedicated cyber security operations centre for the state through C3iHub, IIT Kanpur’s technology innovation hub for cybersecurity and the security of cyber-physical systems. The approved outlay covers the cost of operations and maintenance over the project period.
What IIT Kanpur will handle
Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said the initiative is meant to strengthen the state’s ability to watch for and respond to cyber threats targeting its digital infrastructure and applications.
“Under the arrangement, IIT Kanpur will be responsible for monitoring cybersecurity operations, responding to incidents, maintenance and technical support for the state’s digital infrastructure and applications,” Khanna said, adding that the responsibility has been entrusted to the institute for three years.
In practical terms, the mandate spans four areas:
- Continuous monitoring of potential threats across state government systems and applications
- Incident response, so that authorities can act as attacks or breaches arise
- Maintenance of the security infrastructure set up under the project
- Technical support to departments running digital services
Why it matters for e-governance
As more citizen services, departmental workflows and records move online, state platforms have become attractive targets for ransomware and data theft. A centralised security operations centre gives a state a single place to see threats across departments, rather than leaving each portal to defend itself. By handing operations to an academic institution with a dedicated cybersecurity hub, Uttar Pradesh is also tapping domestic research capacity instead of relying only on private vendors.
The decision follows a string of state-level moves to harden government IT. Several states have recently approved or expanded data centres, disaster-recovery sites and security operations centres to keep critical e-governance services running through cyber incidents and outages.
Part of a wider set of Cabinet decisions
The cybersecurity project was one of 22 proposals cleared at the meeting. Others included four link expressway projects, cashless medical treatment for non-teaching staff in secondary and Sanskrit schools and Basic Education Department employees, recommendations under the state’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) Policy 2024, and the establishment of a PRAGATI Robotics Park in the state.
Details such as the location of the operations centre and its go-live timeline have not yet been made public.