TIL Desk Lucknow/ The Govt. of Uttar Pradesh and Garena, founded and headquartered in Singapore and a leading global games company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today as part of a strategic partnership to position Uttar Pradesh on the frontlines of e-sports, by using Yotta’s local data center infrastructure. This partnership comes on the back of Uttar Pradesh being the first state in India to incorporate esports in its sports policy in March 2023, in order to engage youth and develop the esports and games industry in the state as well as in India, as a complement to overall sports development and promotion.
As a leading global esports and game developer as well as publisher, Garena will organize international esports events and tournaments in Uttar Pradesh with the aim of developing and showcasing Indian esports talent across the globe. In order to support this vision, Yotta will be Garena’s provider of choice in India (including at its state of the art data center park at Greater Noida, UP), for data center hosting services including colocation, cloud, bare metal, cybersecurity, and network connectivity to support Garena’s product offerings in India, including in esports.
As a MeitY-empanelled, highly secure, hyperscale data center and cloud service provider, Yotta is well-positioned to deliver a state-of-the-art technology backbone for Garena’s services, including the protection of sensitive data and personal information of Indian service users. The MOU was signed at the KD Singh Babu Stadium, Lucknow in the presence of State Minister for Sports Shri. Girish Chandra Yadav, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Additional Chief Secretary for Sports Shri. Navneet Sehgal and Sea Limited Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Mr. Ye Gang. Mr. Sunil Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of Yotta, also signed an MOU with Mr. Ye Gang to provide comprehensive data center and cloud hosting for Garena’s services in India.
His Excellency Mr. Simon Wong, the High Commissioner of Singapore to India added, “This collaboration is testimony to the thriving technological synergy between our countries, and with Uttar Pradesh especially. As a marquee Singapore company, Garena’s (and Sea’s) partnerships in Uttar Pradesh are positive examples of the broadening economic ties between both nations.” Agreeing, Mr. Ye Gang, Chief Operating Officer of Sea Limited (Garena), said, “Uttar Pradesh’s progressive esports policy was a key reason behind our partnership with the state government. We look forward to contributing to the development of the esports community as well as the data center industry in India, in partnership with Yotta.”
Mr. Navneet Sehgal, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Sports, Uttar Pradesh Government said. “UP is steadily becoming the sports capital of India. Esports is the future and we are excited that this is the first time ever a global brand like Garena has chosen UP to host tournaments. Esports is the future and Uttar Pradesh is proud to be at the forefront. We look forward to a successful collaboration. We recently organised the most successful Khelo India University Games, Asian Youth HandballChampionship, Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships, ITF Men’s $25k and are now getting ready to host the Davis Cup and MotoGP in September. Sports has truly become the soft power of the state.”
Mr. Darshan Hiranandani, Chairman and Co-founder of Yotta, said that, “Yotta is committed to being the data center, cloud and managed services provider of choice not only to enterprises, startups and governments, but also to top hyperscalers and leading global technology firms like Garena. We are also proud to be able to support the development of a vibrant esports ecosystem through this partnership.”
