Uttar Pradesh Government Cancels 'Rs 25,000 Crore' MoU With Puch AI
New Delhi: Days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath backtracked on his own announcement of a “Rs 25,000-crore memorandum of understanding” with the artificial intelligence startup Puch AI, the state government has announced that the MoU has been cancelled.
Invest UP, the new 'Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency' of the Uttar Pradesh government announced through a post on X, late on March 26 that the MoU was reviewed and details were sought but that the startup failed to furnish them in a timely manner.
"As per standard protocols laid by State Government, the MoU signed with Puch AI on 23 Mar 2026 was reviewed.
"Necessary details as per SOP were sought from the investor, but they failed to provide them timely. Due diligence showed lack of net worth and credible financial linkages for the project's scale. On directions of the State Government, the MoU is cancelled effective today. No rights or obligations remain.
"The MoU has been cancelled in the interest of transparency and highest level of probity in governance, which are in the core of Government of Uttar Pradesh."
The agreement was signed on March 23 and promoted by Adityanath on his X. Claiming that the initiative will strengthen governance, drive innovation, and create future-ready opportunities for youth, he wrote:
“A ₹25,000 Crore MoU with Puch AI will bring AI Parks, large-scale data center infrastructure, AI Commons, and an AI University to the state."
The announcement sparked instant backlash as readers pointed out that Puch AI is a one-year-old startup with a purported revenue of less than Rs 50 lakh a year. While the founder Siddharth Bhatia, in a social media response, differed with this valuation he did not make the total revenue of the company was not public.
Bhatia had also said that no taxpayer money was involved in the deal, which would be executed in phases with support from "external investment partners".
Many doubted the company's ability to execute a Rs 25,000-crore MoU, pointing out that the company was known through viral headlines like when it proposed to acquire the $ 20-billion AI company Perplexity.
A day later, Adityanath ‘quoted’ his previous post and wrote: “An MoU by Invest UP is a preliminary step before detailed due diligence and project evaluation gets done. The MoU with Puch AI is similarly an initiation of the process by Invest UP to explore potential in the AI sector."
Bhatia has this month met defence minister Rajnath Singh and commerce minister Piyush Goyal, publicising photos of these meetings on his X account.
This article went live on March twenty-seventh, two thousand twenty six, at thirty-four minutes past one in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
