3D engineering and design software maker says BIM platform is ‘well-beyond’ traditional CAD software
To sustain one of the world’s fastest growing economies, India laid out a goal last year of investing $1 trillion in infrastructure by 2017.
In an effort to meet the rapidly growing infrastructure needs, India’s largest engineering and building consultant firm, Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd. (TCEL), on Wednesday announced a deal to use Autodesk’s Building Information Modeling (BIM) platform to boost cost and time savings for customers managing large-scale projects in building, town planning and infrastructure.
“Globally, one of the most significant technology trends today is the adoption of [BIM],” said Pradeep Nair, managing director for Autodesk India.
In just the last year, the adoption of BIM has seen significant increase worldwide in areas of building, infrastructure and construction management. The percentage of companies using BIM jumped from 17 percent in 2007 to 71 percent in 2012 in North America.
In the United Kingdom, the government’s construction strategy mandates the use of BIM by 2016 to reduce carbon and costs as part of the overall economic development, although there is some indication in Britain that BIM is slow to catch on among AEC professionals.
“BIM goes well beyond traditional CAD software that is popular in most developing countries,” Nair said.
Based in Mumbai, TCEL will leverage Autodesk’s Building Design Suite, Infrastructure Design Suite and Plant Design Suite. TCEL also serves customers in the power, chemical, steel metals and mining, process, and nuclear and advanced technologies sectors around the globe.
“We are committed to providing responsible consulting solutions to our customers that are sustainable, smart and cost efficient,” said J.P. Haran, TCE managing director. “This partnership with Autodesk will help [TCE] add value by implementing BIM solutions in the building, infrastructure and plant solution space.”
In March 2012, the Department of Commerce led a trade mission to India to promote U.S. equipment, services, and technologies that support India’s ambitious, $1 trillion infrastructure goal, as part of its 12th five-year plan (2012-2017), in the following sectors:
- Project Management and Engineering Services (including architecture and design)
- Transportation (including road/highways, rail, airports and intelligent transportation systems)
- Energy (including distribution, transmission and smart grid)
“U.S. industry is well qualified to supply the kinds of architectural, design and engineering services and project management skills needed to successfully tackle major projects,” the commerce department said at the time. “U.S. technologies are also well positioned to rationalize energy use and production to support new industrial zones as they are built in this chronically energy deficient country.”
With a total of 3.1 million kilometers of roads, India has the 2nd-largest road system in the world only after the United States. The subcontinent wants to increase the road network to five million kilometers in 10 years, connecting all regions of the country.
