This full-time residential one-year program is aimed at experienced engineers and professionals in manufacturing and related fields. It was specifically designed with inputs provided by business partners and key organisations such as the Confederation of Indian business, abbreviated as CII; the Japan International Cooperation Agency or JICA; the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, commonly known as DPIIT and the Ministry of Education.

It brings together the strengths of three premier institutions, namely Product and Technology Excellence at IIT Kanpur, Business Excellence at IIM Calcutta and Process Excellence at IIT Madras to equip leaders to spearhead large-scale manufacturing transformation.

The Program comprises in total more than 1170 contact hours of classroom instruction on strategic management, operations and supply chain, automation, data analytics, technology-led decision making, case studies, simulations and projects. Additionally, participants will complete an industry internship to apply their knowledge in real world settings and an international immersion in Japan that will expose them to lean manufacturing and advanced industrial processes.

Only mid- and senior-level professionals with at least 4.5 years of experience can apply to this program. The maximum age limit is ten years, unless the candidate is firm sponsored. Graduates from this program will acquire alumni status from all three universities with lifelong access to an enormous professional network.

The deadline for applications is November 18, 2025.  Candidates that are interested may apply through the program's official website.

The PGPEX-VLM aspires to create visionary leaders capable of restructuring India's manufacturing ecosystem according to global Industry 4.0 norms.