India’s ambition to become a globally competitive, self-reliant and innovation-led economy must be supported by a strong culture of quality, innovation and excellence, emerged as a key message on Day 1 of the third edition of the IFQM Symposium 2026 in New Delhi.

The symposium brought together senior industry leaders, policymakers, global quality experts, CEOs, CXOs and academia to explore how India can leverage its scale, technology and human capital to build globally competitive institutions and enterprises.

“Powering Viksit Bharat – Scale without Boundaries to Advance Development through Technology, Digital Innovation and Inclusive Connectivity,” said Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Government of India, said the world will soon look to India to learn about quality, innovation and self-reliance. He highlighted the role of initiatives such as IFQM in advancing Viksit Bharat@2047 and strengthening the country’s journey towards Atmanirbharta.

IFQM, established by a consortium of India’s leading enterprises, is an industry-led movement committed to helping Indian organisations become globally competitive and export-capable through quality, innovation and excellence. The Foundation focuses on strengthening the capabilities of Indian industry, including MSMEs, through initiatives promoting quality, innovation and sustainable development in line with the nation-first objectives of Viksit Bharat.

N Chandrasekaran, Executive Chairman, Tata Sons, highlighted India’s progress in building sustainable, world-class infrastructure and institutions, he said, “India has made tremendous progress in developing sustainable world-class infrastructure and institutions. Our economy is doing very well, and over the last few years it has exceeded expectations. Achieving this amid global economic uncertainty is no mean task. It was possible because of infrastructure growth, manufacturing, especially precision manufacturing and investment in human process (education and skill development).”

S N Subrahmanyan, Chairman & Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro, emphasised the importance of making quality a culture across organisations, he said, “In infrastructure, doing projects with quality is critical. We are still not there yet; there is a lot to learn from global practices. Hopefully, initiatives like IFQM will help us reach that level of excellence. Personally, I can share many examples, and each one contributes to the lessons we need to achieve quality. Every employee has to be involved. It's not just about quality; it's about innovation. Quality has to be a culture; I think that will make it happen.”

A key highlight of Day 1 was the recognition of Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, IFQM, by the International Academy for Quality (IAQ) with the Marcos E. J. Bertin Quality in Governance Medal for his contribution to advancing sound governance through quality principles and methods. The honour was presented by Sunil Sinha, Trustee, IAQ, and Raúl Molteni, President, IAQ.

Raúl Molteni highlighted IAQ’s vision of moving beyond traditional quality management towards “quality for humanity” and underscored India’s growing importance in advancing this agenda. He noted that Indian companies have demonstrated that Total Quality Management (TQM) can be implemented at scale and evolve into a broader movement.

Sinha emphasised the importance of recognising leaders who have embedded quality into the way organisations are managed and governed.

Reflecting on TVS Motor Company’s quality journey, Srinivasan recalled how Japanese quality experts helped strengthen the company’s focus on TQM more than three decades ago. He emphasised that the Deming Prize should not be viewed as the destination but as the beginning of an organisation’s TQM journey. He noted that this extends beyond processes and practices to building trust with stakeholders, highlighting the responsibility associated with good governance.

Further strengthening its focus on knowledge, research and capability building, IFQM and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) formalised a collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the symposium.

Soumitra Bhattacharya, CEO and Director, IFQM, exchanged the MoU with Prof Dr -Ing Gisela Lanza, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, in the presence of Venu Srinivasan, Chairman Emeritus, TVS Motor Company.

The collaboration will strengthen cooperation in quality and innovation, with an aim to embed these principles more deeply into the systems and processes that drive industry. It will also connect academic research and expertise with the evolving needs of Indian industry.

Day 1 featured six panel discussions bringing together industry leaders and MSMEs to examine challenges and opportunities across sectors and demonstrate how quality and innovation can create measurable impact.

The discussions included “Pharma & Life Sciences: Moving Beyond Generics – Pioneering Global Leadership in Innovative Medicine”; “From Scale to Excellence: Reimagining Infrastructure for India’s Global Leadership”; “IFQM as Force Multiplier – Measurable Impact Across Sectors”; “Humble Beginnings to Global Standards – The Force Multiplier Playbook”; and “Transforming India into a Trusted Global Electronics Hub.”

The sessions also featured experiences of MSMEs that have benefited from the IFQM initiative, demonstrating how focused interventions in quality, technology, capability building and innovation can help businesses strengthen competitiveness and move towards global standards.

Five keynote addresses explored India’s Viksit Bharat ambition, quality and innovation, technology-led transformation, artificial intelligence and global competitiveness, including perspectives on China’s evolving role in the global economy.

An exclusive CEO session, “Creating Force Multipliers for the Industry-led Movement – Boardroom Vision to Shop Floor Excellence,” brought together senior business leaders to examine practices and organisational interventions that can translate boardroom vision into shop-floor excellence. The discussion examined how leadership commitment, employee participation, quality culture and innovation can combine to create sustainable and measurable organisational impact.

Bringing together perspectives from government, industry, academia, global quality institutions and MSMEs, Day 1 of the IFQM Symposium 2026 reinforced the need for India to move from scale to excellence and from individual organisational initiatives towards a broader, industry-led movement for quality and innovation.