Kirloskar Computer Services Limited — Bangalore, India
CADD & GIS Department
1987 — 2000
Who We Are
Kirloskar Computer Services Limited (KCS) was incorporated on October 30, 1981, headquartered at Industrial Suburb Rajajinagar (near Yeswanthpur Bus Stand), Bengaluru a pioneering technology company at the forefront of India's digital revolution.
The CADD & GIS Department, operating from 1987 to 2000, was one of the most distinguished divisions within KCS. Based in Yeswanthpur, it served as a critical hub for international geospatial projects and set benchmark standards for technical precision and professional discipline in the country.
Through its landmark collaboration with Pacific Intelle-Data (PID) of California, USA, the department demonstrated that Indian engineers could deliver data with the zero-error tolerance demanded by U.S. government agencies and utility giants — helping establish India as a global hub for GIS and Engineering Services.
Parcel maps and large-scale topographical data for global entities.
Rigorous A0 plotter overlay verification for boundary accuracy.
Early adoption of AutoLISP for optimised workflow speed.
Implementation of international geospatial standards with U.S. experts.
Portfolio
Pacific Bell (PacBell) Maps — One of the seven "Baby Bells" created after the 1984 AT&T breakup, serving over 15 million access lines across California. KCS digitized their Outside Plant (OSP) telephone infrastructure and network maps.
AT&T Maps — Outside Plant (OSP) mapping; digitizing the physical grid of the American telecommunications system.
Bell Atlantic Maps — Regional telecom infrastructure across Mid-Atlantic states, including OSP networks and service boundaries.
BellSouth Maps — Multi-state telecom grid mapping across the southeastern United States.
NYNEX Maps — High-density metropolitan telecom infrastructure mapping across the northeastern U.S.
USGS Maps — The "Gold Standard" of mapping: topographical features, contours, and hydrography for the primary U.S. federal land science authority.
FEMA Flood Maps & FZD — Digitization of Flood Insurance Rate Maps for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (Washington D.C.), and Flood Zone Determination (FZD) work — both sourced through GEOTRAC Inc., Norwalk, Ohio. These were the projects that turned the department from loss to profit.
Sacramento City Maps — High-precision municipal mapping of land use and urban planning layouts for California's state capital.
City of Redding — Utility Maps — Digitization of utility maintenance maps for the City of Redding, California — including locations of utility poles, road signs, and infrastructure assets for maintenance management and tracking.
Rutgers University — Building Plans — Digitization of building plans provided on paper into AutoCAD for Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. One of the first projects personally worked on by the department's founding draftsmen.
Chevron Maps — Land parcel and exploration maps for one of the world's largest energy companies, where accuracy in lease boundaries was legally critical.
Survey of India (SOI) — Digitization of paper maps for India's National Mapping Agency under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. Maps included land contours, roads, and rivers — one of the most prestigious domestic GIS projects undertaken by the department.
MTNL — Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, Mumbai — Digitization of telecom infrastructure maps for MTNL's Mumbai circle — one of India's most prestigious government telecommunications organisations.
Department specialised in Digitisation — converting physical paper maps into high-accuracy digital drawings to international GIS standards.
Operated two regular shifts — 6 AM to 2 PM and 2 PM to 10 PM. When project deadlines demanded additional hours, a voluntary night shift from 10 PM to 6 AM was arranged. Draftsmen chose to contribute their time — it was never compulsory. This spirit of dedication came entirely from the team itself.
Culture of endurance, accuracy, and continuous learning; staff often voluntarily took additional night shifts to accelerate professional growth.
The Team
The CADD & GIS Department brought together a remarkable group of CAD Draftsmen whose dedication to precision and international standards laid the groundwork for India's global reputation in GIS. This page honours every colleague who was directly involved in the project work — remembered here by name and initials.
The Team
The CADD & GIS Department brought together a remarkable group of engineers and technical professionals whose dedication to precision and international standards laid the groundwork for India's global reputation in GIS and digital mapping. This page honours the team who made it possible.
Managing Director
ExecutiveSecretary
ExecutiveOperations & Mentorship Manager
CAD OperationsPersonal Manager
Human ResourceHR Manager
Human ResourceProgrammer & Process Enginnering
TechnicalProgrammer & Process Enginnering
TechnicalProgrammer & Process Enginnering
TechnicalShift Supervisor
TechnicalTechnical Guidance
TechnicalTechnical Guidance
TechnicalTechnical Liaison / Project Lead
PID — USAPrincipal / Executive
PID — USALeadership
Managing Director — KCS
Oversaw the executive direction of Kirloskar Computer Services Limited, guiding the company's strategy during a transformational period in Indian IT. Under his leadership, the CADD & GIS Department secured landmark international contracts and built India's early reputation in precision GIS outsourcing.
Secretary — KCS
Provided critical administrative and corporate governance support at the executive level, ensuring the organizational framework that allowed the CADD & GIS Department to operate at international standards throughout the 1987–2000 period.
Operations Manager & Mentor
Managed day-to-day operations of the CADD & GIS Department, implementing the rigorous three-shift rotational schedule and fostering the "apprenticeship" culture that defined the department. His mentorship directly shaped the technical capabilities of a generation of Indian GIS engineers.
Technical Guidance Lead
Provided deep technical guidance to the department's engineering teams, ensuring that AutoCAD-based digitization workflows met the zero-error tolerance requirements of U.S. government and utility clients. A foundational figure in building the team's technical excellence.
Technical Guidance Lead
Collaborated alongside Mr. Krishna Murthy in providing technical mentorship and quality oversight. His expertise ensured the department's output consistently met the demanding specifications of international geospatial clients such as USGS and FEMA.
Technical Liaison — Pacific Intelle-Data, USA
The direct technical bridge between U.S. clients and the KCS team in Bangalore. Reporting to Chris Avery at PID, Ken Morgan ensured that every AutoCAD output from India perfectly matched the specifications of American infrastructure clients — a role central to the partnership's success.
Infrastructure
KCS was the first organisation in India to own and operate the following equipment — all imported directly from the USA, with no technical support available in India. The team learned entirely from manuals while simultaneously running these machines at full commercial capacity on live international projects:
Both HP and Houston Instruments recognised KCS as an official reference site — bringing potential customers from across India to Bangalore to witness this equipment running in live professional production. This was not a demonstration — it was real work, real projects, real deadlines, running across two shifts every single day.
The department never stood still. From 1987 onwards, every significant technology upgrade released in the United States was adopted immediately — not for show, but put straight into live production use on international projects. All hardware was imported directly from the USA with no local technical support. The team learned everything from scratch using only manuals — and delivered international-standard output from day one.
KCS was among the first organisations in India to use AutoCAD, starting with Version 1.4 in 1987. Every new Autodesk release was adopted — from R9, R10, R11, R12, R13, R14 through to AutoCAD 2000 and 2000i. Also used AutoCAD Map (Autodesk) for GIS-integrated drafting.
Alongside Autodesk products, the department adopted ArcCAD and ArcGIS by Esri — the industry-standard GIS platforms — as work evolved from pure CAD drafting into full professional GIS operations, placing KCS at the forefront of the industry.
Started with XT machines with monochrome monitors. Upgraded progressively to colour monitors, then to Intel Pentium in 1993 — the same year as the global launch, making KCS one of the first in India to operate them. HP used KCS as a live reference site for Pentium workstations.
Started on DOS — typing every command on the command prompt. Witnessed and adopted every major transition through to Windows, keeping pace with every OS upgrade of the era as it arrived from the United States.
Witnessed the complete storage evolution: from large flexible 5.25" floppy disks to the smaller rigid 3.5" floppy disks. Each new format was adopted immediately, ensuring maximum compatibility with US clients.
Started with A4-size Houston Instruments digitizing tablets and upgraded through A1 to full A0-size — the largest available. KCS was the first in India to operate A0 digitizers. Houston Instruments used KCS as a reference site for these machines.
Started with A4 monochrome printers, progressed through larger formats to Houston Instruments A0 plotters and ultimately the HP A0 256-colour plotter — all firsts in India. Both HP and Houston Instruments brought customers to KCS to witness these machines in live use.
Houston Instruments plotters, printers and digitizers were the professional CAD hardware standard of the era. All imported from the USA, all self-maintained using only product manuals. Houston Instruments used KCS as an official reference site in India.
Implemented U.S.-developed geospatial and topological standards under the technical guidance of Ken Morgan of Pacific Intelle-Data (PID) — ensuring all output met the zero-error tolerance required by international clients.