KANPUR, Sept. 4 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday underlined the need for stronger collaboration between industry and academia to position India as a global hub of technology and sustainable development. He also announced an ambitious vision to make Uttar Pradesh the epicentre of India's deep-tech revolution and called upon IIT-Kanpur to spearhead India's journey towards becoming a global leader in deep technology. "Industry-academia collaboration today is linked to solving global challenges and building a Viksit and Atmanirbhar Bharat," he said speaking at Samanvaya, an industry-academia engagement programme organised at IIT-Kanpur. Highlighting the event's theme of 'coordination', Adityanath said discussions on artificial intelligence, cyber security and sustainability would not only advance innovation but also directly improve citizens' quality of life. India's first deep-tech accelerator and the country's first AI co-pilot 'DeepTech Policy' 2035 was also unveiled at the event. The initiative aims to make UP India's first deep-tech-ready state and help it achieve a USD 1 trillion economy, while extending opportunities to startups and youth from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, an official statement said. The CM said Uttar Pradesh would take the lead in shaping India's deep-tech future, while announcing that the state aims to become the fulcrum of the DeepTech Bharat 2025 initiative. A national summit on deep technology must be held in UP at the earliest to chart the framework of the country's future in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum technology and sustainable solutions, he said. "IIT-Kanpur should become the hub of India's first Deep-Tech Bharat 2025 model," he declared, adding that the state had already allotted land in Gautam Buddh Nagar for allied facilities. "This institute has the capacity to provide leadership for the challenges of the 21st century. IIT Kanpur can shape India's role in the global knowledge economy," said Adityanath. Recalling India's economic prowess, he said until the 17th century, India contributed nearly a quarter of the world's GDP, which collapsed to barely 2% by 1947. "In the last 11 years, we have seen India on a journey aligned with Viksit Bharat and Atmanirbhar Bharat. India is the fourth largest economy in the world, and will become the third in two years," he said. Adityanath also praised IIT-Kanpur's contribution to science and engineering over the past six decades. He recalled its role during the Covid-19 pandemic and its contributions to the Defence Corridor and Med-Tech Centre, stressing that coordinated efforts would restore India's global leadership. "We must ensure that industries reinvest in innovation, which alone can restore India's rightful place in the global order," he said. The CM said UP had created cyber police stations in all 75 districts and set up a state cyber and forensic institute, asserting the importance of building resilience in the digital age. The state, he said, had also moved away from its old "BIMARU" image and is now India's second-largest economy, attracting sustained investment inflows and developing modern infrastructure. He cited examples of transformation in Bundelkhand, where tap water had reached every home and farm incomes grew tenfold. The CM also highlighted record plantation of 240 crore saplings in eight years, confirmed by the Forest Research Institute as increasing forest cover. Adityanath urged the youth not to be daunted by technological change. "Every letter, plant and human being has the potential to become something. Institutions like IIT-Kanpur are working to connect these possibilities. With the right guidance, the doubts in young minds can be cleared and confidence can take root," he said. The conference on DeepTech saw participation from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), ministry of electronics and information technology and more than 200 venture capital firms. Cabinet minister Rakesh Sachan, IIT-Kanpur director professor Manindra Agrawal, TCS CTO Harrick Vin and deputy director professor Brajbhushan were present at the event....