Pune: Cluster Conference 2026 marked a significant milestone for India’s automotive component industry as the ACMA Mobility Foundation hosted its inaugural conference under the theme “Building World-Class Automotive Supply Chain – The ACMA Way.”
The event also celebrated 25 years of the ACMA Cluster Movement, an initiative focused on strengthening operational excellence, fostering collaboration, and enhancing the global competitiveness of India’s automotive component sector.
The Cluster Conference 2026 brought together policymakers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), automotive component manufacturers, and industry leaders to discuss strategies for building resilient and globally competitive automotive supply chains through collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Hosting the Cluster Conference 2026 in Pune, widely recognized as India’s “Detroit of the East,” highlighted the city’s strategic importance in the country’s automotive manufacturing ecosystem.
With more than 4,000 automotive and ancillary units, Pune has emerged as a hub for engineering excellence, advanced manufacturing, and collaborative capability development.
The city continues to support India’s automotive transformation through rapid advancements in electric vehicle (EV) technologies, world-class research and development, testing capabilities, and Industry 4.0 manufacturing practices, strengthening globally competitive automotive supply chains.
Vikrampati Singhania, President, ACMA, and Managing Director, J.K. Fenner (India) Ltd., said: “Twenty-five years ago, ACMA made a simple yet transformative choice. Instead of asking companies to become better than one another, we invited them to become better with one another.
That belief gave birth to the ACMA Cluster Movement, which has since evolved into a culture of collaboration, benchmarking and continuous improvement.”
Speaking about the industry’s growth during Cluster Conference 2026, he noted that the Indian auto component industry crossed ₹7.6 lakh crore in turnover during FY2025–26, while exports reached $24 billion, more than doubling over the past five years.
He added: “Scale may win markets, but capability wins confidence. The next chapter will not be written by the biggest companies, but by the strongest ecosystems.”
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Welcoming delegates at Cluster Conference 2026, Sriram Viji, President-Designate, ACMA, and Managing Director, Brakes India Pvt. Ltd., said: “As India strengthens its position in global manufacturing, building world-class supply chains will require closer collaboration between industry, government and technology institutions.
The ACMA Cluster Movement continues to play a vital role in helping manufacturers, particularly MSMEs, improve competitiveness through quality, digitalisation and continuous capability development.”
The conference featured a keynote address by Vinamra Mishra, Joint Secretary (Administration & Technology), Ministry of MSME, Government of India, along with a panel discussion involving senior procurement and strategy leaders from Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, VE Commercial Vehicles, JSW Motors, TVS Motor Company, and Cummins India.
The discussion focused on the future of globally competitive automotive supply chains.
During Cluster Conference 2026, Vinamra Mishra highlighted the Ministry of MSME’s initiatives to strengthen manufacturing MSMEs.
He said: “The Ministry of MSME is strengthening the ZED and Lean programmes by introducing enhanced incentives for technology upgradation, quality certification, market access, public procurement, and international outreach, enabling manufacturing MSMEs to become more competitive and future ready.
A resilient MSME ecosystem, anchored by a strong automotive industry, will play a pivotal role in realizing the vision of Viksit Bharat and positioning India as a global manufacturing powerhouse.”
As part of the silver jubilee celebrations during Cluster Conference 2026, ACMA unveiled a commemorative film showcasing the 25-year journey of the Cluster Movement, released a special edition of IMPACT, and honoured outstanding Cluster Star Performer Companies for excellence in manufacturing and continuous improvement.
Concluding Cluster Conference 2026, Vinnie Mehta, Director General, ACMA, said: “FY26 reaffirmed the resilience of India’s auto component industry, driven by strong domestic demand, continued investments in technology and the confidence of global customers.
As global supply chains evolve, India is strengthening its position as a trusted manufacturing partner. The ACMA Cluster Movement continues to demonstrate that collaboration and continuous capability building are key to enhancing competitiveness and building world-class automotive supply chains.”
Over the past 25 years, the ACMA Cluster Movement has supported thousands of manufacturing professionals and more than 2,500 manufacturing plants in adopting global best practices, reinforcing ACMA’s commitment to building a future-ready and globally competitive automotive supply chain.
