After Delhi proved the model in schools and colleges, Punjab has taken the next big step — making entrepreneurship a credit-bearing, mandatory part of higher education so students become job creators, not job seekers
India’s youth hold enormous creative energy — but too often the education system channels that energy toward job-seeking, not job-creating. In a rapid policy push, the Business Blasters idea that started in Delhi’s schools has been expanded and adapted into Punjab’s ambitious Entrepreneurship Mindset Course (EMC) for colleges, backed by AI tools, seed funding pathways, and a credit-based curriculum. This is a practical, learn-by-doing attempt to build Silicon-Valley-style entrepreneurial instincts at scale.
What was Business Blasters — and why it matters
Business Blasters began as a school-level pilot that gave students a small seed grant and hands-on support to try micro-business ideas. The program showed that young students can ideate, run small ventures and — in several cases — register companies and earn real revenue. Delhi later expanded the scheme into a “senior” version for college and university students, increasing seed capital for college teams and providing a stronger ecosystem (mentors, incubation links, and college-level support).
Key facts from Delhi’s AAP govt rollout:
School-level seed funding: typically ₹2,000 per student for classes XI–XII projects.
College-level expansion: the senior version provides larger seed capital (reports show figures such as ₹50,000 for selected college teams in
Delhi).
Punjab’s Entrepreneurship Mindset Course (EMC): what’s new and bold
Punjab’s government — led by CM Bhagwant Mann with national AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal at the launch — introduced the EMC for universities, ITIs and polytechnic colleges with the stated aim: shift education from producing job-seekers to nurturing job-creators. Key program points:
Launch & reach: EMC rolled out in the 2025–26 academic year in an initial set of universities/ITIs/polytechnics covering about 1.5 lakh students, with a target to reach 5 lakh students by 2028–29.
Who’s required to take it: EMC is mandatory from 2025–26 for students in BBA, BCom, BTech, and BVoc; the plan is to extend the course to all undergraduate degree programs from 2026–27.
Credit-based, practical structure: Universities and colleges are implementing EMC as a credit-bearing course (designs call for ~2 credits per semester per the curriculum blueprint), with semester-by-semester business milestones and increasing revenue targets to encourage real-world learning.
AI + multilingual delivery: The EMC will be delivered via an AI-enabled, multilingual digital platform (Punjabi, Hindi, English) that gives students practical modules in finance, marketing, operations and use of AI in business.
How the course actually teaches entrepreneurship (the classroom → market loop)
Punjab’s model and university rollouts map the EMC into semester milestones so students earn while they learn:
2 credits per semester for EMC, with semester-wise revenue/impact targets (examples reported: ₹10k → ₹40k → ₹80k → scaling up to higher targets by later semesters). This incentivizes small ventures, progressive scale-up, and accountability for outcomes.
Assessment mixes real revenue + deliverables: evaluation includes business viability, income generated, project deliverables, reflections and presentations (reported assessment weights put real business outcomes at a significant share).
Support ecosystem: mentorship, teacher training, field visits, local partner involvement and seed funding pathways connect student projects to local markets and incubators.
Punjab already scaled a school-level Business Blaster scheme (launched 2022 in pilot form) across government senior secondary schools, giving students seed funds and practical mentorship. Numbers reported in press releases and government pages include thousands of students supported and crore-level disbursements for seed funds. These school programs serve as a feeder and culture-builder for EMC at the college level.
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The enabling policy environment: ease of doing business + investment push
Punjab’s entrepreneurship push is supported by broader reforms aimed at simplifying business creation and attracting investment:
The Punjab Right to Business Act (2020) and fast-track portals reduce regulatory friction for MSMEs and startups.
The state claims substantial new investment commitments since the current government’s term, used to argue there will be markets and scale for student ventures to plug into.
Taken together, these measures aim to make it simpler for motivated students to launch and operate small businesses without getting bogged down in red tape.
Early results, scale and reason for optimism
Punjab expanded Business Blasters across nearly 2,000 government senior secondary schools and reported tens of thousands of students shortlisted and supported with seed funds. Several schools have converted top projects into further support, mentoring or industry partnerships.
Delhi’s college-level expansion, and school-to-college pipeline in Punjab, offers a repeatable model: small seed funding, mentor networks, and project-based crediting can create a virtuous cycle of business learning → real revenues → stronger local ecosystems.
Challenges to watch (honest, practical view)
1. Quality of mentorship and local markets: teaching entrepreneurship requires good mentors, market access and follow-up support — scaling those consistently across thousands of colleges is hard.
2. Assessment & integrity: linking grades/credits to revenue could incentivize shortcuts — assessment design and oversight need strong safeguards.
3. Sustainability of ventures: many student ventures will be learning projects — the aim should be to build capabilities (risk tolerance, problem solving) rather than only count enterprises that survive beyond a semester.
These are solvable but must be acknowledged as the program scales.
What universities, industry and students can do next (call to action)
Universities: build local mentor panels, tie EMC projects to local incubation or MSME clusters, and make faculty training mandatory.
Industry/Investors: offer micro-grants, in-kind mentorship, and pilot procurement for student products/services.
Students: treat EMC projects as a real hustle — pick problems your community will pay for, track revenue/expenses, document results and seek mentors early.
If Delhi’s early experiments and Punjab’s scaled policy both succeed, India will not only make more startups — it will create a culture where the default is to solve problems and create livelihoods, like the entrepreneurial mindset that powered Silicon Valley’s growth.
#BusinessBlasters #Entrepreneurship #EMC #Punjab #YouthStartups #EdTech #JobCreators
India need AAP govt,best for education and building India like USA
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