Boring war: China cuts tunnelling machine exports, India digs in — SkimNews
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- China will require Ministry of Commerce licences from Nov 18 for exports of tunnel boring machines, critical components including cutterheads and main drives, crawling excavators and high-altitude concrete spraying systems to "sensitive countries" with which it has territorial disputes; the rules were announced Oct 19.
- Ministry of Commerce rules also bind foreign firms manufacturing the products inside China — they cannot sell to sensitive countries without Beijing's approval — and bar importers from transferring Chinese-origin goods to those countries without authorisation.
- Piyush Goyal said India will not "kneel down" and will develop TBMs domestically; Reuters reported in August that India was preparing a US$1.2 billion (S$1.5 billion) incentive scheme to boost domestic manufacturing of high-value construction and infrastructure equipment.
- Li Guangman of the Kunlunce Research Institute said freely exporting complete TBMs, cutterheads and main drives to India would be tantamount to supplying weapons for India's militarised border infrastructure, while a Commerce Ministry spokesperson called the covered goods "clearly dual-use".
- Pranay Kotasthane noted the control list includes high-altitude wet sprayers rated for 3,000m or higher, and that India is the only country both building above 3,000m and in a territorial dispute with China — which he says signals Beijing's leverage for future negotiation.
- Herrenknecht, the German firm whose China-made machines were held up in 2024 for the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor, has increasingly been building TBMs at its Chennai plant, including the two largest such machines ever ordered in India for a Mumbai road link.
- Tunnelling machinery imports from China fell from US$18 million in 2022-23 to US$800,000 in 2025-26, according to Reuters; China holds about 70% of the global TBM market share and roughly 40% of India's 100-odd operating TBMs are Chinese-built, with Vinayak Chatterjee flagging slower spare-parts acquisition.
Why it matters: For Indian contractors, the immediate exposure is the roughly 40% of India's 100-odd operating TBMs that are Chinese-built, with spare-parts delays flagged by Vinayak Chatterjee. The counterweight is domestic: a US$1.2 billion incentive scheme, Afcons' "no impact" assessment and Larsen & Toubro's prototype tunnel-borer.
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