Sundar Chandramouli is vice-president (special projects) at Bangalore International Airport Limited. He started his career in the early 1990s. He has worked on projects for the US Coastguard, the New York Department of General Services and the US Military Academy. Some of his most memorable projects include the Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata, the expansion of the Bengaluru airport and the Marriott Hotel in Armenia. In his past projects, he has pushed sustainability in construction by implementing solutions such as plastic roads and rainwater harvesting using ABC guidelines.
In his current role, Chandramouli’s responsibilities include the implementation of special and innovation projects, controlling projects, and ensuring safety, quality and staff augmentation within the team. He sees technology as the prime driver of change in the infrastructure sector, from design processes to civil construction and facility management. In his view, advanced modes of transit such as high speed rail will change the infrastructural landscape. Additionally, mechanisation and modernisation in the industry will usher in a smooth transition to facility maintenance. This would be made possible with the help of artificial intelligence, digitalisation, and sophisticated design and building practices.
According to Chandramouli, the past five years have been extremely challenging owing to the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru expansion project. Through the project, the airport’s capacity has been almost doubled from 25 million passengers per annum (mppa) to 45 mppa. Besides the second runway and second terminal, the project also included large-scale earthworks, roads, bridges, water and sewage treatment facilities, electric substations and utility networks.
Chandramouli prefers to have a constructive solution for a common goal for all stakeholders. Instead of temporarily fixing a problem, he tries to achieve a long-term solution. He believes that such leadership positions require the ability to network and be accessible to the team.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bengaluru, and a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky. He is an active member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK) and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He is also a member of the Association of Consulting Civil Engineers and fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India).
In his free time, he prefers to introspect, meditate, and solve quizzes and puzzles.