CHANDIGARH: With less than four months to go before the 2027 Assembly elections, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Thursday launched an aggregator platform connecting industry, educational institutions, skill-development institutes and skilled workers to facilitate industry hiring.
Accompanied by Industry Minister Aman Arora, Mann also launched the ‘HUNAR Punjab’ and ‘Fast-Track Punjab’ portals. The BDP Incentive Portal was also launched to provide multiple touchpoints for industries to track incentives received and those yet to be availed of under the state government’s Industrial Development Policy.
“The portal will function like an e-passbook, enabling industries to check their eligibility, utilisation and balance of fiscal incentives. The two platforms assume significance as Punjab has attracted investments worth Rs 1.89 lakh crore over the past four-and-a-half years, during which 2,600 projects have been approved. An investment of Rs 60,000 crore alone is expected to fructify in the state this year,” Arora said, underscoring the importance of the portals.
HUNAR — Hub for Upskilling, Networking, and Access to Rozgar — has been designed as a workforce-matching platform through which industries can identify institutions offering relevant courses, assess the available student pool and communicate their manpower requirements.
Mann said the new portals would ensure that all necessary approvals were granted through a single-window system within 45 days, enable investors to transparently track financial incentives and connect industries directly with skilled youth.
The Chief Minister said Punjab had attracted Rs 1.90 lakh crore in investment since 2022, generating 6.31 lakh new jobs, and reiterated that the government’s priority was to create employment opportunities for the state’s youth within Punjab.
“The launch of HUNAR Punjab and Fast-Track Punjab is an important step for Punjab’s industry and youth. HUNAR Punjab will bridge the gap between industry and skilled youth and create greater employment opportunities for our young people within the state. Around 1,750 institutions have already registered on the HUNAR Punjab portal, and local skilled youth will be given preference for employment opportunities in the industrial sector. Companies will now be able to directly connect with and hire skilled youth through this platform,” he said.
Mann said the Punjab Government had implemented e-Office and online systems across departments to eliminate corruption and bring greater transparency to government functioning.
“These systems are reducing unnecessary delays and making government processes more accountable,” he said.
“Punjab has attracted investment worth Rs 1.89 lakh crore over the last four years, creating employment opportunities for 6.31 lakh youth. This reflects the growing confidence of investors in Punjab,” Mann said.
He said HUNAR Punjab was a unified platform for upskilling, networking and access to employment, addressing key gaps such as limited visibility of available talent, fragmented industry-institute engagement, a lack of demand-supply linkages and the absence of defined response timelines.
“HUNAR Punjab is the skilling and placement pillar of Punjab’s unified interface for industry, alongside Fast-Track Punjab. It brings together four important modules: Institute Discovery, Hiring and Placements, Internship and Industrial Training, and Industry-Institute Collaboration,” Mann said.
He said more than 1,700 institutions were already part of the portal across seven administrative department categories. Fixed timelines and accountability mechanisms had been built into the system so that applications and requests could be dealt with within defined timeframes.
“Dedicated dashboards have been created for industry, institutes and departments. The platform will also provide query and grievance-redressal facilities, along with help-desk support, making the entire process easier and more transparent for all stakeholders,” he said.
Mann said the portal would formalise MoU-backed industry-institute partnerships covering guest lectures, faculty development, on-the-job training, placements, curriculum inputs, infrastructure and technology support, and CSR collaborations.
“The government is working towards the full rollout of all four modules with end-to-end processes, separate user logins, statewide talent management and departmental monitoring of placements, training and collaborations. Punjab has emerged as a preferred destination for investors, with all necessary permissions available through a single-window system. Investors applying through the Fast-Track Punjab portal will receive all approvals within 45 days,” he said.
Arora said, “Industry plays a vital role in the progress and development of Punjab. These portals will help industries access skilled manpower while ensuring that the youth of Punjab get employment opportunities within their own state.”
