Indian Foundation for Quality Management announces MSME Symposium 2026

• Theme of the symposium  is India Needs a Resurgent MSME Sector
• Captains of the industry, quality experts, academia, delegates to deliberate on India’s journey to Viksit Bharat 2047 by building a globally competitive MSME sector that propels ‘brand India’

CHENNAI, India, March 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM), an industry-led, Section 8 not-for-profit movement building a Quality brand for India, announced that it will convene its MSME Symposium 2026 with the theme India Needs a Resurgent MSME Sector, on March 20, 2026 at Anna University, Guindy, Chennai. IFQM, led by its Governing Council consisting of industry captains, is committed to enabling Indian organisations to be globally competitive through quality, excellence and innovation initiatives. Registration to the symposium is open through the IFQM website – https://ifqm.org.in/events/ifqm-msme-symposium-2026/.

This event will be attended by the leaders from the MSME ecosystem, captains of the industry, members of academia, and quality experts. The symposium will deliberate on measures and methods to make India’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) globally competitive with a view to rapidly integrate into the global value chains (GVCs) as a high-tech, highly productive and trusted manufacturing partner. It will offer a unique opportunity to engage with leaders from 250+ MSMEs, CPOs and CEOs of large companies, business leaders and ambassadors of IFQM’s nation-first approach.

Speakers at the Symposium include Venu Srinivasan, Chairman Emeritus, TVS Motor Company;  Arvind Balaji, MD, Lucas TVS; Dr. Jairam Varadaraj, MD, Elgi Equipments; Pankaj Mital, COO, Motherson Sumi Systems; Pradeep Ramakrishnan, MD, Reify Engineering, among several others.

The Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM), setup by a consortium of leading Indian companies’, seeks to catalyse transformational changes centred on Quality, Excellence and Innovation. 

Speaking on the upcoming symposium, Soumitra Bhattacharya, CEO & Director, IFQM, said, “For India to build a globally trusted ‘Made in India’ brand, MSME clusters must be empowered to consistently match the expected quality performance. A seamless ecosystem of excellence is required as we aim to become one of the world’s top exporters.  It demands adoption of globally preferred quality principles, cluster-based scale strategies, ready access to assessment and coaching tools, and widespread engagement in initiatives beyond individual firms or divisions. Through this symposium and many more in the future, IFQM aims to discuss what global companies are looking for sourcing from India, case studies to highlight drivers of meaningful change and also understand the challenges of smaller organisations to propose desirable remedies and course corrections.”

Key Highlights of the Symposium

• Inaugural Keynote Address: Venu Srinivasan (Chairman Emeritus TVS Motor and Member of the Governing Council, IFQM)
• Welcome Address: P. Kaniappan (IFQM)
• IFQM – A catalyst to enable MSMEs to be Globally competitive and export capable: Soumitra Bhattacharya (CEO, IFQM)
• Launch of IFQM Academy Initiative: Leadership Development Course for MSMEs
• Panel Discussions:
  • India as a Global Manufacturing Hub – moderated by Ashwani Bhargava (Boeing)
  • Growth in the Domestic Market – moderated by Arvind Balaji (Lucas TVS)
  • Listen & Unravel: Root Cause Analysis for MSMEs – moderated by Kabir Bhandari (PVNA Group)
  • Solutions & Roadmap: Remedies and Course Corrections – moderated by Dr. Jairam Varadaraj
• Academic Partnerships to Focus on Digital and AI Tools Integration and Application:
  • Courses at SRM IST, Chennai and Manufacturing Excellence (VelTech University)

Afternoon Initiatives

The second half of the symposium will spotlight IFQM’s pillars and initiatives, including:

• Counselling & Assessment for MSMEs
• Learning Solutions and Certification Programs
• Industry-Academia Collaboration Models
• Digital Transformation & AI Integration
• Announcement of the Quality Excellence Prize
• Comprehensive Industry Survey & Feedback
• Case Studies:
  • How an MSME Broke the Mould
  • How Motherson Became a Global Company – presented by Pankaj Mital (Motherson)

Special Feature

During the lunch break, there will be a special screening of Mittlestand, a 15-minute documentary highlighting global MSME success stories.

About IFQM

Instituted in September 2023, Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) is committed to the promotion of transformative changes across Indian industries. It seeks to institutionalise a culture of quality that meets and exceeds global standards. It is about bringing in continuous improvements of both products and services, thereby elevating the perception about Brand India.

The IFQM Governing Council: Mr. N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons; Mr. Dilip Sanghvi, Executive Chairman, Sun Pharmaceuticals; Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Executive Chairperson – Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited; Mr. TV Narendran, CEO & MD, Tata Steel Limited; Mr. K.N. Radhakrishnan, Director & CEO, TVS Motor Co; Dr. Randhir Thakur, CEO & MD, Tata Electronics Pvt. Ltd; Mr. Salil Gupte, President, Boeing India & South Asia; Mr. SN Subrahmanyan, Chairman & MD, Larsen & Toubro; Mr. Venu Srinivasan, Chairman Emeritus, TVS Motor Co & Chairman, IFQM; Mr. Vivek Chaand Sehgal, Chairman, Motherson Group.

IFQM on Web: https://ifqm.org.in/
IFQM Events: https://events.ifqm.org.in/symposium
IFQM on social media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ifqm

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2929171/IFQM_Logo.jpg 

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