To encourage innovation, entrepreneurship and youth-led enterprises, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday distributed a seed grant worth Rs 1.07 crore to 31 startups and their founders, asserting that the next generation of successful entrepreneurs should not only come from Punjab but also build their companies here, creating jobs and wealth within the state.
He said Punjab was firmly on the path to becoming the startup hub of India.
Describing startups as a key pillar of Punjab’s future economic growth, he said the government was committed to ensuring that no promising idea was abandoned due to lack of financial support. Mann noted that under the Punjab Startup & Industrial Policy-2026, the seed grant assistance had been enhanced from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, with seven startups receiving grants of Rs 5 lakh each and 24 receiving Rs 3 lakh each.
He expressed confidence that these ventures would create thousands of employment opportunities and help reduce the need for youth to move abroad in search of jobs.
Emphasising that innovation has become a defining feature of governance in Punjab, the CM said initiatives such as free electricity, daytime power supply to farmers and several other reforms had demonstrated how new ideas could deliver direct benefits to people.
Addressing the gathering, the CM, while drawing a parallel between entrepreneurship and politics, said, “AAP itself was born from an idea at a time when dynastic politics dominated the country and the common man had been sidelined. In many ways, AAP was also a startup that cleaned the political system with its symbol of the broom.”
Meanwhile, addressing a Lok Milni programme at Shamashpur village in Fatehgarh Sahib, Mann launched a sharp attack on Opposition parties while highlighting the achievements of his government.
Mann appealed to the people to grant his party another mandate in the 2027 Assembly elections, saying he had a vision to make Punjab the number one state in the country. Recalling the overwhelming support received in 2022, he said the government had been working continuously to address long-pending issues facing the state.
Lashing out at former governments led by the SAD and the Congress, Mann alleged that they had left the state burdened with massive debt without creating infrastructure or employment opportunities.
