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India needs its boring machines to be made at home: Here's how
Mint Ahmedabad
|October 03, 2025
We could get relief from the chokehold of foreign firms through a well-crafted 'Make in India' plan
Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have quietly become a critical chokepoint for India.
Every metro line, hydropower tunnel, urban water system and cross-country rail project depends on them, yet we import TBMs from a handful of foreign suppliers. Our market, worth ₹8,000 crore in 2023-24, is projected to cross ₹11,000 crore by 2029-30. As we make no large diameter TBMs (10m and above), we remain vulnerable to a Chinese supply squeeze. Recently, China not only halted direct TBM exports to India, but also reportedly blocked subcomponents made in Chinese facilities of a German firm, choking supplies at two levels of the chain.
This story is from the October 03, 2025 edition of Mint Ahmedabad.
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