Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Punjab

The Department of Industries & Commerce serves as the Government of Punjab's nodal agency for industrial development and startup ecosystem support. It administers the Startup Punjab initiative through the Invest Punjab portal, handling startup registrations, incentive disbursement, and ecosystem coordination. The department collaborates with Innovation Mission Punjab (impunjab.org), which acts as the catalyst body for implementing the state's startup and innovation policy.

The department functions as the administrative core of Punjab's startup framework, managing the state startup policy, processing registrations via the Invest Punjab portal, and releasing fiscal incentives to eligible startups. It facilitates coordination among the state government, academic institutions, and Innovation Mission Punjab to build a unified support system for founders. Its broader industrial development mandate enables connections between startups and Punjab's traditional industries, fostering technology-driven modernisation in manufacturing, agriculture, and food processing.

Key programmes include the Startup Punjab registration and incentive scheme administered through pbindustries.gov.in/startup/, partnerships with institutions such as IIT Ropar, ISB Mohali, and Punjab Engineering College for incubation infrastructure, and Innovation Mission Punjab's catalyst programmes. Fiscal incentives cover seed funding support, patent filing reimbursement, quality certification subsidies, and marketing assistance. The department is expanding startup infrastructure in the Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula tricity region, which is emerging as the state's primary innovation cluster.