Doing business in Lucknow
Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, is a city of government offices, schools and colleges, hospitals, traders and a fast-growing real estate market, with a large number of family-run and small businesses at its centre.
It is also known for its crafts. Under the state's One District One Product (ODOP) programme, Lucknow's chosen products are chikankari, the GI-tagged hand embroidery the city is famous for, and zari zardozi metallic embroidery. The ODOP programme describes a large artisan, manufacturer, wholesaler and exporter base behind both crafts, selling in India and abroad.
Technology work is growing too. HCLTech marked ten years of its HCL IT City campus in Lucknow in October 2026 and announced a second phase of the campus, a sign of the city's growing pool of software and IT talent.