By Manpreet Chhatwal, Senior Account Manager, Seequent.
Increasing infrastructure spend from 4% to 6.5% of GDP could accelerate progress towards India’s “bold and ambitious” Viksit Bharat vision by 2047, according to former G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, who spoke recently at the Kantilya Economic Conclave in Delhi.
Having worked on a variety of projects in countries as diverse as India and Australia for nearly twenty years, I have seen firsthand, how infrastructure can indeed build prosperity.
By connecting communities and enabling goods to be efficiently transported, infrastructure is both an innovation enabler and opportunity creator. While Amitabh Kant is right to think that infrastructure can help India realise its vision, there will be challenges along the way.
When complete, Delhi Metro’s Phase IV extension will cut 180,000 vehicles from the roads daily, and eliminate 266,000 tons of pollutants.
As Kant said recently on X: “Execution also demands smarter planning, innovative financing, empowered institutions, and climate-resilient design. If we confront these challenges head-on, India will not just build infrastructure, it will build the backbone of Viksit Bharat.”
And there are already challenges, according to a 2023 report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which monitors projects worth more than Rs 150 crore. Its December 2023 analysis of 1,820 infrastructure projects found 848 were affected by delays, with total project cost overruns worth more than Rs 4.82 lakh crores (USD 58B).
But challenges building on-time and budget infrastructure are not faced only in India. A 2024 report on global infrastructure project builds underway by consultancy Crux found $84USD billion in disputed costs and timeline extensions totalling close to 1000 years.
Crux reports that unforeseen ground conditions are a primary factor in claims for timeline extensions and compensation. It makes sense, when you think about it. Every large structure we build above ground must interact with the ground below for the many decades that infrastructure projects serve society. This means execution risk increases when there isn’t an early and evolving understanding of subsurface risk, or the ability to communicate subsurface risk during construction, when new subsurface data reveals new insights.
If India is to realise its national vision, a key aspect of ‘smarter planning’ must be to inform success through subsurface risk understanding to enable on time and on budget delivery.
Today, subsurface tools provide a 3D digital representation, or model, of underground conditions, helping geotechnical engineers identify subsurface risks, including unstable soil, groundwater, and hidden obstacles that could present issues.
The Crux research is borne out by the delays and cost overruns affecting high profile infrastructure projects in India and globally, as a result of poor ground investigation.
A high-profile example is Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel, which collapsed in 2023, trapping 41 workers for more than two weeks, largely as a result of inadequate ground investigation.
Given these realities, it is important to prioritise ground investigation as a non-negotiable on every project. To enable ‘smarter planning’ India’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) process could be reformed to ensure DPRs are grounded in robust geotechnical data and analysis, which would further mitigate infrastructure execution risk.
Another key aspect of ‘smarter planning’ must be to inform success through subsurface risk understanding that can enable project execution. Today, subsurface tools provide a 3D digital representation or model of underground conditions, helping geotechnical engineers identify subsurface risks, including unstable soil, groundwater, and hidden obstacles. If conditions change, subsurface tools can inform any change in approach.
By connecting communities and enabling goods to be efficiently transported, infrastructure is both an innovation enabler and opportunity creator.
On my recent visit to India, I got the sense that there is a real understanding of the transformational power of technology, and this is backed up by KPMG research that found 97% of Indian employees intentionally use AI at work – one of the highest rates globally.
It was certainly true for the infrastructure players, who took part in a roundtable discussion I attended, where they made clear that using 3D modelling tools to better understand ground conditions could help to improve the likelihood of on time and budget delivery.
Not to be left out, Government organisations, such as the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), also favour a 3D modelling-first project approach. RITES demonstrated how a 3D subsurface model is informing risk mitigation on the renowned Jammu-Katra rail line, at a New Zealand High Commission event I attended in Delhi.
Next-generation Indian infrastructure projects like Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) Phase IV expansion are using Seequent and Bentley digital tools to model ground risk and keep teams connected. The project, set to make Delhi Metro the world’s longest system, will cut 180,000 vehicles from the roads daily, eliminate 266,000 tons of pollutants, and use solar power for 35% of its energy needs by the time the extension is completed in 2026.
The Delhi Metro Phase IV extension is a great example of the ‘climate resilient design’ that Amitabh Kant says will become the ‘backbone of Viksit Bharat.’ More importantly, projects like this will enable more Indians to benefit from the country’s rapid economic rise. With the world’s youngest, and among the most tech savvy populations, India’s future is bright.
