Bentley Systems’ Illuminate Mumbai Event Highlighted Ways to Accelerate India’s Self-Reliant, Digitally-Driven Infrastructure

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the infrastructure engineering software company, recently convened infrastructure leaders, innovators, and policy influencers in Mumbai for Illuminate Mumbai—a high-impact event focused on empowering India’s journey toward its India 2047 goals through the adoption of open, intelligent digital twins for infrastructure.

India aims to achieve developed-nation status by 2047, with infrastructure standing at the core of its transformation. The Illuminate Mumbai event enabled attendees to explore how digital twins, infrastructure AI, and open data ecosystems are turning India’s infrastructure vision into real-world outcomes—from smart highways and resilient water systems to efficient structural design and scalable workforce enablement.

According to Kaushik Chakraborty, senior vice president, Asia Pacific, Bentley Systems, “Illuminate Mumbai underscored a central message: While India and the world may face a shortage of engineers, it does not lack infrastructure data. The challenge—and opportunity—is to harness that data through digital intelligence to better address India’s current and future infrastructure requirements—to advance cities, transportation systems, water and utility networks, and more. Bentley’s solutions are uniquely positioned to close this gap, turning information into action to support India’s goals of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and infrastructure-led economic development and growth.”

Strategically aligned with national initiatives like Gati Shakti, Smart Cities, and Jal Jeevan Mission, Bentley is committed to being a long-term digital partner in India’s infrastructure evolution. Illuminate Mumbai provided a forum for Bentley’s global and regional executives as well as users to share how the company’s open and interoperable digital twin platform and innovative software solutions, including Bentley Infrastructure Cloud, OpenSite+, OpenFlows Water, OpenUtilities SubStation, PLAXIS geotechnical software, and more, are enabling self-reliance by giving Indian engineers, contractors, and public agencies full control over their data, workflows, and insights.

Key event highlights include:

• Kamalakannan Thiruvadi, regional executive, South Asia, Bentley, welcomed attendees with a strong message on India’s unique opportunity to lead in infrastructure innovation, noting digitally-driven technology, like AI and digital twins, are already being used across India to improve asset performance, increase resiliency, and reduce carbon impacts.
• The executive keynote, led by Andy Rahden, vice president of Solution Engineering at Bentley, shared powerful insights on digital transformation in engineering, tackling workforce challenges, and scaling sustainability through open, interoperable technologies. The keynote featured a dynamic panel discussion with:
• Pawan Rallabandi, Business Unit Head – Digital & Advanced Technologies, Tata Consulting Engineers
• Sandeep Desai, CIO, AFCONS
• Bimal Patwari, Co-Founder & CEO, Pinnacle Infotech

The forum also included remarks from Joe Yang, Principal Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, highlighting the importance of international collaboration in driving digital innovation in infrastructure.

A spotlight session led by Dr. Anil Kashyap, Director General of NICMAR and President of NICMAR University, emphasized the critical role of academia in nurturing digital skills for the infrastructure workforce of tomorrow.

The program also contained dedicated technology sessions, providing real-world examples of digital twin applications; sector-specific innovation discussions across structural engineering, transportation/airport, electric energy, and water utilities. The event featured unique user case studies in transportation (Louis Berger International—A WSP Company); Water (Deccan Technical Consultants); Structural and Geotechnical (Sterling Engineering Consultancy, Afcons Infrastructure, and TCE), and Utilities (Elegrow Technology).