Announcing the details at a press conference on Saturday, convention committee chairman and Vice President, India Pistons, R. Sriram said the event would comprise six power sessions chaired by leading industrialists. “Each session will focus on core areas such as innovation, leadership transition, training and skill development, technology, and sustainability,” he said.
S Muralishankar, President of NIQR and Executive Vice Chairman of Super Auto Forge, said that with global supply chains shifting towards India, quality would be the decisive factor in ensuring competitiveness. “With digitalization reshaping the entire concept of quality, we need to constantly adapt. Whether in automotive components or any other sector, the emphasis is not just on quality but also on reliability. Earlier, we spoke about percentage defects, then moved to PPM (parts per million), later to PPB (parts per billion) in semiconductors. But now, even a single failure is unacceptable. ‘Zero instances of failure’ is the new benchmark. That is where data analytics, AI, and vision systems play a critical role,” he noted.
He added that NIQR, through this convention, is focusing on such innovations and bringing in industry leaders who have successfully implemented these technologies. “They will share real case studies, so participants—particularly MSMEs—can learn how to adopt and benefit from them,” he pointed out.
Explaining the expected outcome of the convention, Vinod Surana, Chairman of the Advisory Board, NIQR and CEO of Surana & Surana, said the discussions and deliberations would be consolidated into a comprehensive report. “This will be shared with the government, but more importantly, the findings and best practices will be disseminated to industries across the country, especially at the grassroots. This is vital because the ideas and solutions shared by industry leaders must reach the shop floor, where quality is actually delivered,” he said.
He added that the relevance of such efforts has grown in the backdrop of changing geopolitics. “We are witnessing a realignment of global power structures, with the rise of China and India mirrored by challenges in the West. At the same time, there is a conscious effort to contain India. In this context, as global supply chains shift towards India and partnerships with Germany, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan deepen, the key differentiator will be quality and reliability,” he explained.
Illustrating this point, he cited the defense sector. “Reliability is non-negotiable. For example, a household may pay ₹3,000 for a four-burner hot plate, but the Navy may pay ₹1 lakh for a similar unit. It isn’t a scam — it is because reliability on a ₹20,000-crore warship in the middle of the ocean is priceless. You cannot afford failure when national security is at stake,” he said.
He stressed that NIQR’s role is to embed this culture of reliability across industries, from MSMEs to large corporations. “Whether it is defence or consumer products, the rising Indian customer expects world-class quality. Our mission is to ensure that Indian products meet both domestic and global benchmarks.”
More than 800 delegates from across the globe, representing various sectors, are expected to participate. Registrations are open through the NIQR website, with special discounts for SMEs.
