Srinagar, Sep 28: The Rural Business Incubation Centre (RBIC) at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Kashmir (SKUAST-K) on Monday launched five flagship startup support programmes and unveiled its official digital portal, as a senior NABARD delegation reviewed the progress of the incubation initiative at the university’s Shalimar campus.
The programmes were launched during the visit of a high-level NABARD delegation led by Dr BR Premi, Chief General Manager (RMSMED), NABARD, Mumbai. The visit was held in connection with the meeting of the Board of Directors (BoD) of the SKUAST-K RBIC Foundation, a Section 8 non-profit company established to operationalise the NABARD-supported incubation initiative at the university.
SKUAST-K Vice Chancellor Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai presided over the programme, while Dr Premi attended as Guest of Honour.
The five programmes are designed to support innovators and entrepreneurs at different stages of the venture lifecycle.
These include the Grassroots Pre-Incubation Programme (GRIP), aimed at identifying and validating field-level business ideas; RBIC Hackathon 1.0, which seeks to engage youth in developing solutions to regional agricultural challenges; and a Mentorship and Acceleration Programme to help early-stage enterprises prepare for investment and commercial expansion.
RBIC also launched “Idea to Asset: Protect Your Innovation”, an intellectual property support initiative aimed at helping innovators protect and commercialise indigenous innovations, and “Brand Edge”, focused on product packaging, storytelling and market positioning.
The dignitaries also launched the RBIC’s official interactive website, which has been designed as a single-window platform for incubation applications, mentor engagement, intellectual property assistance and startup-investor linkages.
Certificates were also distributed among the recently selected Cohort-1 incubatees undergoing structured incubation and venture acceleration.
Before the launch ceremony, Dr Premi held discussions with Vice Chancellor Prof Ganai and interacted with RBIC staff. This was followed by meetings of the Foundation’s Board of Directors and an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).
The visiting delegation later toured the RBIC incubation facility and reviewed its operational infrastructure, working prototypes and lab-to-market initiatives.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Premi commended RBIC for developing a grassroots incubation ecosystem within a short period.
“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.
In his presidential address, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai said SKUAST-K was transitioning into an entrepreneurial hub focused on addressing indigenous challenges through research and innovation.
“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.
Secretary, Kissan Board, Nuzhat Gull, also attended the programme and appreciated the innovators and SKUAST-K for promoting technologies aimed at addressing challenges at the farm level.
The 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 and Heads of Divisions, was also present.
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