Dassault Bets Big on Civil & Construction Verticals in India

While the mining sector solution remains its forte, Dassault Systemes India, is now betting big on the civil and construction verticals in the country. Dassault Systemes, known globally for its 3Dexperience platform, has already tasted success in this new area in the development of the 'Virtual Shipyard' industry digital training programme in South Australia and implementation of smart city projects in cities such as Singapore, Jaipur, India, and Rennes, France and then more recently the company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa), the operating arm of Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), top company officials said in Kolkata.

The company is quite keen on replicating the same model and developing 3D modeling and virtualization of Indian cities. “Jaipur is using our 3D experience platform. We have started this project in February this year with our system integrator partner AurionPro. They signed the contract with Rajasthan government...It is to create a complete modeling and virtualization of Jaipur and the surrounding area of the city," said Samson Khaou, managing director, Dassault Systemes India.

The same thing can be done in other Indian cities and various state governments, quite like the Rajasthan government, can actually leverage the platform to improve road traffic, to predict natural disaster like flood and water logging problems, and to anticipate the impact of construction for infrastructural developments, he said.

Khaou pointed out: “The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (N. Chandrababu Naidu) wanted us to come up with a proposal for the virtualization of the state’s new capital Amravati. We are contemplating a partnership with Andhra Pradesh (government).”

The company, which employs 2,500 people in India with six offices in Kolkata, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, is also hopeful that this solution would also help the railways in construction tunnels, and city authorities could also construct sub-terrain roads.

Quite significantly, the mining sector in the country currently is facing challenges in the wake of low commodity prices, forcing companies to keep costs in check. High-grade deposits are disappearing and geographically viable deposits are increasingly tapped out. And as a result, mining companies are being pushed into remote locations to dig deeper beneath the surface. Experts think that digital technologies which include a virtual mine framework based on a three-tiered approach - operational stability, mine execution excellence and business agility - can help them to execute lean practices effectively and to increase productivity and innovate. In fact, the 3Dexperience platform and the Geovia applications enable the mining companies for the sustainable capture of natural resources by ensuring minimal environmental impact, said Khaou.