Guest blog post by Paul McRoberts, Vice President of Autodesk’s Infrastructure Business

Ed note: Autodesk, Inc., works in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and entertainment industries-including the last 17 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects-use Autodesk software to design, visualize and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software for global markets.

Autodesk is honored to be a representative on this trade mission to India. On behalf of Autodesk, I thank the U.S. Commerce Department and Secretary Bryson for organizing the trip and inviting Autodesk.

This trade mission is focused on infrastructure business development. With 1.2 billion people, India is the second most populous country in the world. India’s population is expected to overtake China’s in the next 10 to 15 years. The country needs to add 25 million homes a year to meet current demand, according to McKinsey and Co. There is also a pressing need for clean water, reliable power, transportation, sustainability standards and more.

In short, infrastructure is a key criterion for India to realize its economic growth potential. The Indian government’s 12th Five Year Plan states that the infrastructure sector will require an investment of about USD 1 trillion. Autodesk software is already being used to design many of the nation’s ambitious infrastructure projects, including:

• The Mumbai Monorail, the nation’s first monorail. Once completed, it will be the world’s second-longest Monorail corridor. This sustainable transportation system will alleviate congestion in India’s most populous city.
• Navi Mumbai International Airport, which is expected to have Phase 1 operational by 2014. There is great demand for this additional international airport to service the Mumbai metropolitan region. It is expected to handle 50-55 million passengers annually.

Autodesk has offices in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai. We also have over 100 Indian resellers. Together, we work closely with Indian customers across many industries, including architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing and media and entertainment. 

Going into the trade mission, Autodesk is looking forward to productive meetings with government agencies and private companies. We strive to be a trusted technology advisor for more infrastructure projects in India.