From papads to pitches: NCERT brings startup lessons to Class IX

A new chapter on startups and entrepreneurship has been introduced for Class IX students in NCERT textbooks.

NEW DELHI: Seven women, Rs 80 in borrowed capital and a Mumbai terrace. That was how Lijjat Papad began in 1959. More than six decades later, the story will be used to teach Class IX students how an idea, however small, can grow into an enterprise.NCERT’s new social science textbook has introduced a dedicated chapter on startups and entrepreneurship, taking students through the basics of identifying business opportunities, understanding markets and preparing a workable business plan.The chapter is built around three broad questions — how entrepreneurship affects society and the economy, what the main functional areas of a business are, and how an effective business plan is prepared.It also places these lessons in the context of India’s startup journey. The book says the country had only around 350-400 startups about a decade ago, while the ecosystem has now expanded to nearly 2.3 lakh enterprises, making India the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. The broader policy push, it says, is to bring research, industry, startups and entrepreneurship onto a common platform.Students are introduced to the building blocks of running a business — understanding market activity, spotting opportunities, assessing performance and planning before committing resources.

The chapter also brings artificial intelligence into the discussion, explaining how AI can assist in market analysis and business decision-making.Alongside contemporary startup concepts, the book uses stories of Indian entrepreneurs to make the subject relatable.

One of them is Mohan Singh Oberoi, who began his working life on a salary of Rs 50 and went on to become a pioneering figure in India’s hospitality industry.

Born in Punjab in 1898, Oberoi mortgaged his wife’s jewellery to buy his first hotel and later built a major hotel business.The Lijjat Papad story, meanwhile, illustrates entrepreneurship at the other end of the scale. Seven homemakers living in a Mumbai chawl started making papads with borrowed supplies and a traditional recipe. With no factory, each woman took dough home in the morning, rolled papads while managing household work and returned the finished product by evening.The lesson highlights how quality, organisation and persistence helped turn the modest venture into a widely recognised brand.