Onlykashmir.in News Desk
New Delhi: At the prestigious Festival of Innovation and Inspiration (PFoI) 2025, held at the India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi, Kashmir found a prominent voice in the national innovation landscape as Naveed Bhat, Chief Executive Officer of the SKUAST-K Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship Centre (SKIIE), represented Jammu & Kashmir on a distinguished panel discussing Frugal Innovations.
Bhat attended the event as the nominee of Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor SKUAST-K, Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to articulate the university’s growing innovation mandate.
Sharing the dais with eminent national figures — including Dr. Sanjay Kumar (Chair, ASRB), Dr. Ranjay Singh (ADG, Agricultural Extension, ICAR New Delhi), Dr. Anil Gupta (Padma Shri Awardee), Prof. Laxman Sharma (Dean, Central University of Sikkim), and representatives of prominent grassroots startups — Bhat highlighted SKUAST-K’s evolving model of an innovation-led agricultural university.
The dignitaries commended SKUAST-K’s pioneering approach, particularly its introduction of a fourth mandate of “Innovation”, alongside education, research, and extension; its SISP-driven ecosystem-building strategy; and its remarkable achievements in facilitating over 100 patents and more than 100 startups in recent years.
PFoI 2025, themed “From Spark to Scale: Transforming Innovative Ideas into Socially Relevant Solutions,” brought together policymakers, investors, mentors, and innovators from across India, including emerging ecosystems in the Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir.
The festival offered curated sessions on regulatory frameworks, market linkages, investment pathways, storytelling forums led by successful innovators, and extensive networking opportunities — strengthening the bridge between grassroots ingenuity and national innovation platforms.
With Kashmir’s innovation ecosystem steadily rising, Naveed Bhat’s presence at PFoI 2025 marked another step in positioning SKUAST-K as a national leader in agri-innovation and entrepreneurial advancement.
