The Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM), established by a consortium of India’s leading enterprises, will host the third edition of its annual two-day IFQM Symposium in New Delhi on October 5-6, 2026, under the theme “Quality, Innovation and Excellence as India’s Force Multiplier.”
Instituted in September 2023, IFQM is an industry-led movement working to help Indian organisations become globally competitive and export-capable through quality, innovation, and excellence. The inaugural 2024 edition opened with sector-specific discussions across automotive, engineering, aerospace, defence, electronics, and digital engineering R&D, while the 2025 edition focused on how quality and innovation can make India globally competitive.
The 2026 edition will debut a new Pharma and Life Sciences track and, alongside Infrastructure, feature an expanded sectoral focus. The Pharma track will explore India’s shift beyond generics toward innovative medicine, while the Infrastructure track will examine reimagining India’s infrastructure for global leadership.
The event will see participation from industry leaders including Mr. Venu Srinivasan, Chairman Emeritus, TVS Motor & Chairman, IFQM; Mr. N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons; Mr. Dilip Shanghvi, MD, Sun Pharmaceuticals; Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon Group (virtual presence); Mr. S.N. Subrahmanyan, Chairman & MD, L&T; Mr. TV Narendran, CEO & MD, Tata Steel; Dr. Randhir Thakur, CEO & MD, Tata Electronics; Mr. K.N. Radhakrishnan, Director & CEO, TVS Motor Company; and Mr. Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India & South Asia, among others.
International speakers include Mr. Euisung (Ernie) Kim, Executive Vice President & Head of Quality Division, Hyundai Motor Group; Mr. Akinori Onodera, President & CEO, EARTHBRAIN Ltd; Mr. Frank Sieren, China Specialist and Bestselling Author; Mr. Masahiko Mori, President & Group CEO, DMG MORI; Mr. Stefan Grosch, Member of the Board of Management and Director of Industrial Relations, Robert Bosch GmbH; and Mr. Yugo Miyamoto, Managing Director, Kaizen Saudi Arabia, Abdul Latif Jameel.
Panel discussions will cover Pharma & Life Sciences: Moving Beyond Generics; From Scale to Excellence: Reimagining Infrastructure; IFQM as a Force Multiplier; Humble Beginning to Global Standards; Transforming India into a Trusted Global Electronics Hub; and Making Business Smart: Deploying AI for Manufacturing and Services. A special session, “Creating Force Multipliers for the Industry-led Movement – Boardroom Vision to Shop Floor Excellence,” will bring together senior CEOs and CXOs to discuss translating boardroom vision into shop-floor results.
Mr. Soumitra Bhattacharya, CEO & Director, IFQM, said India’s aspiration of Viksit Bharat demands that quality and innovation become national force multipliers, and that the symposium is a call to action for industry, government, and academia to embed excellence into every process, product, and partnership. He said the goal is to identify measurable milestones and practical pathways that help organisations achieve greater impact, driving broader participation from Indian industry and academia to accelerate economic growth through quality and innovation.
Building on last year’s key takeaway, the critical role of MSMEs in India’s growth, this year’s agenda will examine India’s standing in global quality, productivity, and innovation, pathways to 2030 targets, industry-academia partnerships, and how innovation can address systemic barriers. Over two days, the symposium will feature more than 25 sessions and over 50 speakers.
Day 1 will open with keynotes on “Enabling Viksit Bharat: Quality as National Force Multiplier” by Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister, and Mr. N. Chandrasekaran, and “Powering Viksit Bharat – Scale without Boundaries” by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister, and Mr. Venu Srinivasan. Day 2 will begin with a keynote on “Wings of Viksit Bharat: Transforming India into a Global Aviation Hub” by Shri Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Union Minister, and Mr. T.V. Narendran, alongside sessions on AI for manufacturing and services and the IFQM-JUSE global partnership. The symposium will conclude with key takeaways from Mr. Soumitra Bhattacharya and speakers from TVS Motor Company and Tata Steel.