Chennai to host global quality convention
The National Institution for Quality and Reliability (NIQR) is to hold its 18th Global Quality Convention in Chennai on August 28 and 29. The convention, expected to draw over 800 delegates from across the world, will feature key note sessions by global thought leaders, addressing challenges and opportunities for the Indian industry, NIQR officials said at a press conference in Chennai on Saturday.
The convention is being held at a time when there is a palpable power shift in global geopolitics. Today’s geopolitics is not just about “tariffs” but a complete realignment of global rankings, observed S. Murali Shankar, President, NIQR. At this crucial juncture, the Indian industry is presented with a huge opportunity to grow, especially because India is now getting recognised globally for its technical abilities, thanks in part to increased R&D spends and a sharp rise in industry-academia collaboration, Shankar, who is also the Executive Vice-Chairman of Super Auto Forge, said. He said his company had benefitted from a recent collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Dr Vinod Surana, Chairman, Advisory Board, NIQR and CEO of the law firm, Surana & Surana, stressed on ‘reliability’, noting that in growing sectors like Defence, ‘reliability’ was non-negotiable. Even a simple product such as a gas stove for cooking assumes very high importance and value in, say, a submarine – even if a simple product fails, its impact would be catastrophic. The convention, accordingly, would lay emphasis on ‘reliability’. He said that while the Indian industry’s R&D spend was still smaller than that of China or South Korea, the spends have been rising.
Deliberations at the convention would be compiled into a compendium and taken to the grassroots of industry, said R Sriram, Chairman of the convention and Vice-President at India Pistons Ltd.
The speakers at the convention include Vivek Joshi, CEO & MD, Sundaram Clayton, N Ravichandran, former CEO, Lucas TVS and Giridhara Gopalan, CEO, Addison & Co.
Published on August 23, 2025
