Chandigarh, November 3 — The Punjab government has rolled out a new mandatory entrepreneurship course in higher education, positioning it as a step toward making the state a “Startup State.”
Titled Business Class — or the Entrepreneurship Mindset Course (EMC) — the program integrates business idea development into regular college study. Students are expected to create, test and market new ventures every semester, earning two credits based on their innovation and earnings. The model, inspired by Delhi’s “Business Blasters,” shifts the focus from exams to enterprise.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the goal was to connect education directly to livelihood. “We want every youth of Punjab to become an entrepreneur,” he said, adding that the government’s vision was to equip students with tools for self-reliance rather than dependency on jobs.
So far, around 1.5 lakh students across 20 universities and several technical institutes have enrolled. The government’s new Punjab Startup App, available in three languages, serves as the platform to track projects and provide mentorship. Officials claim over ₹25 lakh worth of business transactions have already been recorded within two weeks of its launch.
With unemployment a persistent concern, the initiative aims to create a culture of self-employment and innovation within campuses. The state projects that by 2028–29, the program will cover 5 lakh students and foster thousands of small startups.
“Education that doesn’t lead to economic empowerment is incomplete,” said a senior education department official, adding that Punjab’s approach could “reshape how higher education is linked with local enterprise.”
