IUST and IIM Jammu Sign MoU to Back Young Entrepreneurs in J&K

The CIED–IUST Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the YUVA Innovation Hub at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu on Tuesday, formalizing a partnership aimed at youth-led enterprise development across Jammu and Kashmir.

The signing took place at the IUST Innovation Campus in Awantipora. The deal operates under Mission YUVA, the J&K government's youth-employment initiative, and covers knowledge exchange, mentorship, capacity building, and institutional support for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Who signed, and what changes?

The agreement links two institutional ecosystems. On one side sits the CIED–IUST Foundation, the entrepreneurship arm of the Islamic University of Science and Technology. On the other, the YUVA Innovation Hub at IIM Jammu, a top-tier management school.

The MoU creates a formal bridge between IUST's entrepreneurship programs and Mission YUVA's enterprise-creation agenda. For students and early-stage founders in the region, that translates into mentorship channels, capacity-building programs, and institutional backing that neither body offered in combination before.

In plain terms: young founders in J&K now have a direct pipeline connecting a university incubator to a national management institute.

What did officials say?

Vivek Aggarwal, IAS, Director of Employment and Managing Director of Mission YUVA, J&K, attended the event. He appreciated IUST's initiatives in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation and expressed confidence that the collaboration would help advance Mission YUVA's objectives "by nurturing entrepreneurial aspirations among young people and supporting the development of sustainable enterprises across the region."

Professor Parvez Ahmad Mir, CEO of the CIED–IUST Foundation, highlighted the university's sustained efforts to build an entrepreneurial culture through institutional support, capacity building, and startup development.

Why IUST's track record matters here

The numbers behind the partnership give it context. IUST has secured a four-star rating under the Institution's Innovation Council (IIC) framework for three consecutive years — a benchmark that signals sustained, not one-off, investment in campus innovation.

The event itself acknowledged that streak. A compilation highlighting the Foundation's triple-certification achievements was presented, and the program included a cake-cutting ceremony to commemorate the four-star IIC rating. The CIED–IUST Foundation's coordinators were felicitated for their contributions to the university's entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives.

Who was in the room?

The attendance list signals how broadly the university mobilized around the deal:

• Sameer Wazir, Finance Officer, IUST
• Altaf Hussain Shalla, Principal, Government Polytechnic College, IUST
• Dr G N Itoo, Director, Centre for Good Governance and Policy Analysis, IUST
• Dr Peer Bilal, Director DIQA
• Dr Ruheela Hassan, Dean Outreach, IUST
• Dr Monisa Qadiri, Dean Students, IUST
• Dr Basharat N Dar, Coordinator EDC/CPMSB/STEM

Representatives of IIM Jammu, CIED coordinators, faculty members, entrepreneurs, research scholars, and students also attended. Shameem Iqbal Nahvi delivered the vote of thanks, acknowledging the dignitaries, institutional representatives, and participants.

The program additionally featured a presentation on the objectives and scope of the collaboration, alongside an overview of the CIED–IUST Foundation's achievements.

What comes next?

The MoU is positioned as a step toward strengthening institutional partnerships and opening new opportunities in innovation, entrepreneurship, employment generation, and sustainable economic growth in Jammu and Kashmir. Whether it produces measurable startup outcomes will depend on how quickly the mentorship and capacity-building commitments turn into programs — and how many young founders in the region they reach.