CGM NABARD reviews progress, VC chairs foundation BoD Meet
Srinagar| Sept, 28:In a major push to accelerate grassroots entrepreneurship across Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh, Rural Business Incubation Centre (RBIC) at SKUAST-Kashmir on Monday launched five flagship startup support programs and unveiled its official digital portal at the university’s Shalimar Campus.
The launch took place on the occasion of a high-level NABARD delegation visit led by Dr BR Premi, Chief General Manager (RMSMED), NABARD Mumbai, which was planned for the Board of Directors (BoD) meet of the SKUAST Kashmir RBIC Foundation, a Section 8 non-profit company operationalising the NABARD-supported incubation initiative at the university.
The event was presided over by SKUAST-K Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai, with Dr Premi attending as the Guest of Honour.
The five newly unveiled programs are structured to support innovators across every stage of the venture lifecycle. These comprise the Grassroots Pre-Incubation Program (GRIP) to scout and validate field-level concepts; RBIC Hackathon 1.0 to mobilize youth toward solving regional farm bottlenecks; and a comprehensive Mentorship and Acceleration Program to ready early-stage enterprises for investment and commercial scale. To safeguard and market indigenous innovations, the centre also rolled out “Idea to Asset: Protect Your Innovation”—an intellectual property support program—alongside “Brand Edge,” dedicated to product packaging, storytelling, and market positioning.
The dignitaries also launched the official RBIC interactive website, designed as a single-window platform for incubation applications, mentor engagement, IP assistance, and startup-investor linkages.
Marking a key deliverable in institutional outcomes, certificates were distributed among the recently selected Cohort-1 incubatees for structured incubation and venture acceleration.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor highlighted the varsity’s ongoing transition into an entrepreneurial hub solving indigenous challenges. “For decades, we relied primarily on imported research and technological models from abroad. Our time has arrived to contribute back to global knowledge and domestic innovation. Living in India, we are best placed to solve our own problems. RBIC ensures that our youth and researchers receive the institutional backing and commercial runway to build self-reliant enterprises,” he said.
Prior to the launch ceremony, Dr Premi held a bilateral interaction with the Vice Chancellor and interaction with RBIC staff, followed by the Meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Directors and an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). The visiting delegation later toured the RBIC incubation facility to inspect operational infrastructure, working prototypes, and lab-to-market pipelines.
Addressing the gathering, Dr BR Premi, commended RBIC for establishing a vibrant grassroots incubation engine at a short span of time. “It was a wonderful experience for me to observe people expressing their ideas here and I congratulate RBIC for that. In a small period of one year, this incubation centre has created good impact with the support of the university,” he said.
The ceremony was also attended by Secretary Kissan Board, Nuzhat Gull, who lauded the innovators and SKUAST-K for advancing farm-level technologies. The senior NABARD delegation included Vikas Mittal, General Manager and Officer-in-Charge, J&K Regional Office; Surinder Singh, DGM Srinagar; and Kanav Sharma, AGM (RMSMED, Mumbai).
Registrar, SKUAST-K, Prof Azmat Alam Khan along with university officers ad Heads of Divisions, was also present at the occasion.
