UP govt scraps Rs 25,000-crore MoU with Puch AI: ‘Firm lacks net worth, financial linkages’

“On directions of the state government, the MoU stands cancelled with immediate effect. No rights or obligations remain,” it added, underlining that the move was taken in the interest of transparency and maintaining the highest standards of probity in governance.

The now-cancelled MoU had been projected as a major investment in the artificial intelligence space, aligning with the state’s broader push to position itself as a hub for emerging technologies. However, officials maintained that adherence to due process remains paramount and any proposal failing to meet established norms would not be pursued.

The government reiterated that while it remains open to investments, projects must meet financial credibility and transparency benchmarks before being approved or implemented.

Following a post from the CM’s X handle on Monday highlighting the scale and ambition of the proposed investment, several users on X were quick to add a community note to the post, questioning the startup’s capacity, noting its relatively small scale, and raising concerns about its execution capability.

On Tuesday, Siddharth Bharia, the co-founder of Puch AI, which describes itself as “India’s first AI assistant”, had posted: “The MoU signed with the UP Government is structured as a public-private partnership. It does not involve any cost to the taxpayers of Uttar Pradesh. On the contrary, it brings investment into the state. The project will be executed in phases, with support from external investment partners.”