How Punjab Cultural Project is telling us there is more than songs and food to Punjabi culture

The cultural tapestry of the state of Punjab is hardly limited now to the state; the rich culture has been on display in the mainstream for quite a long time and has only increased over time. Once specific to Punjab or maximum, the north Indian places like Delhi, the culture, at least through the food and the music, now finds itself in the air of not just India but also abroad. 

Meanwhile, back in the state, there are many other lower-income artisans and local businesses forming the “Punjabi culture” who find it hard to maintain a living, let alone a high-quality one, which questions the negligible cultural economy of the state. 

Currently, there are no such data or reports that highlight the cultural economy of the state's economy. However, Chitra Iyer, the co-founder of the Punjab Cultural Project, says that it is minimal, whereas the culture is popular worldwide. “The whole world talks about Punjabi culture and makes money off it and profits from it, but none of it trickles down to our state cultural economy. The artisans, the traditional techniques, all of it are dying with no one wanting to start a business with any of these products,” the 49-year-old says. 

The cultural shift and the need to accelerate the cultural heritage

At least, in India, owing to prevailing socio-political conditions, there has been a shift towards “culture” and while Iyer agrees to the same, she, along with Reman Sandhu, came up with an idea to support the entrepreneurs through a start-up that can further accelerate the start-up economy and ecosystem. 

Aiming to revive the cultural heritage of Punjab, while calling it a “key economic driver’, the co-founders, who originally met at a writing programme, have been helping the homegrown business of Punjab. 

Being a social organisation, the Punjab Cultural Project has recently come up with a Culture Catalyst 2025-26, a six-month business accelerator designed for cultural brands in and around Punjab, now also covering Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Delhi NCR.

Talking to Local Samosa, in a video interaction, Iyer highlights how such an idea could never be an NGO, even with the larger intent to help the local artisans. “While the traditional NGO models might help in the livelihood of the small artisans, they find it difficult to sustain longer,” she says, adding that for the same reason, they are directly and only dealing with the brands that are in the culture domain to kickstart the betterment in the long run.  

Through PCP, both founders have been working with businesses in experiential tourism, food and beverages, home decor and furnishing, health, beauty and wellness and fashion and accessories, to name a few. The founders emphasise the need for providing capacity building, market access, and investor readiness to cultural brands.

Currently, the programme is funded by five investors, says Sandhu. “It provides each brand with an initial investment of Rs 1 lakh and mentorship,” Sandhu, 31, says, adding that the guidance that comes with the investors is the key to the growth of the businesses. 

To understand the needs of the cultural brands, Chitra Iyer and Reman Sandhu organised an edition for dialogues with at least 60 cultural entrepreneurs, the findings of which Local Samosa has access to. “It was evident that cultural brands were dealing with the ineffectiveness of traditional NGO models and other exploitative models. “Other problems were building transparent supply chains and scaling handmade products,” Sandhu reiterates.

Through the Punjab Cultural Project now, the brands meeting the criteria, including particular revenue generation and registration as a “brand”, receive the initial investment of one lakh rupees and minimal equity (0.5-1%) from the investors. “The brands must be responsible, profitable, and rooted in culture, heritage, and tradition,” Sandhu says, talking about the criteria. 

For the same programme, the PCP has also partnered with ISB Mohali, AIC ISB, and the National Body for Indian Cultural Enterprises (NICE).

On asked whether the founders have been living, they take a jibe - “Punjab, not Chandigarh!” The founders seem determined not to lose the culture of Punjab, unlike how Chandigarh did, in order to ensure a commercial cosmopolitan for its residents; a thought that resembles the ethos of Punjab Cultural Project.