Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, through its Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre, joined hands with the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park to organise “Spark Social,” a high-impact outreach seminar held under the 14th edition of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2026, bringing a national social entrepreneurship platform directly to the doorstep of Kashmir’s student and researcher community.
The event, hosted at the SKUAST-K Shalimar campus, was designed to inspire and guide students, researchers and early-stage innovators towards building scalable, impact-driven social enterprises, reflecting a growing emphasis within Jammu and Kashmir’s higher education institutions on translating academic research into ventures with tangible social value.
Vice Chancellor SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai, who attended as chief guest, emphasised that innovation and entrepreneurship have become essential pillars of higher education in the current era. He called on young innovators to leverage their creative potential to address real-world societal problems while simultaneously driving socio-economic growth across Jammu and Kashmir, a region where youth unemployment continues to be a pressing concern for policymakers and educators alike. Ganai reaffirmed the university’s commitment to supporting startups through robust incubation infrastructure, expert mentorship and strategic industry linkages, positioning SKUAST-K as an increasingly active player in the Union Territory’s nascent startup ecosystem.
During the seminar, the Assistant Vice President of Incubation at IIM Calcutta Innovation Park delivered a detailed overview of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge, widely regarded as India’s premier platform for social impact ventures. Participants were walked through the application process in detail, including the incubation support, mentorship structures, investor connections and funding channels available to shortlisted teams, information that organisers hope will lower the barrier for Kashmiri students unfamiliar with formal startup pathways.
The seminar also featured a technical session on sustainable, impact-led business models, delivered by a social entrepreneur and CEO of a Kolkata-based enterprise, offering participants a practitioner’s perspective on building ventures that balance financial sustainability with measurable social outcomes.
Earlier in the programme, the CEO of SKUAST-K’s Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre, delivering the welcome address, underscored the university’s vision of nurturing an innovation-driven ecosystem capable of transforming young minds from job seekers into job creators, a phrase that has increasingly come to define the aspirational language around entrepreneurship policy in Jammu and Kashmir.
The event concluded with an interactive pitching session, where aspiring entrepreneurs presented their business ideas directly to an expert panel drawn from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and SKUAST-K’s own incubation centre, receiving hands-on feedback and mentorship to refine their concepts. The enthusiastic turnout from students, faculty and local founders reaffirmed SKUAST-K’s growing standing as a hub for youth-led social innovation in the region.
