China has imposed export restrictions on certain excavation equipment, while India is accelerating efforts to develop indigenous tunnel boring machine (TBM) manufacturing. According to Reuters, following China’s announcement last month of export controls on TBMs and related items, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal stated on November 3 that if China restricts TBM exports, India would prioritize domestic production of such machinery. We maintain a good relationship with China, and bilateral ties are expected to improve further in the absence of new obstacles.
India’s response has been swift, but in reality, its rhetoric does not match its actions. A stark contradiction exists: regardless of which country supplies a TBM, it is highly likely to have been manufactured in China. Germany’s Herrenknecht, the world’s second-largest manufacturer, operates its largest assembly facility outside Germany in Nansha, Guangzhou, capable of assembling ultra-large-diameter TBMs up to 17 meters in diameter. The “German-branded” TBMs used in Mumbai’s high-speed rail project were, in fact, shipped from Guangzhou.
Of course, India has attempted to pursue domestic production. The “Durga” TBM, unveiled by Indian officials in July this year, was claimed to achieve 70% localization by weight—however, this figure includes steel shells, carriages, and standard piping, which account for 70% of the total mass but only 10% to 30% of the value. Critical components determining a machine’s ability to dig—such as main bearings, hydraulic systems, electrical control systems, and cutting tools—remain entirely dependent on imports, with no breakthroughs achieved in domestic development.
Nonetheless, India is currently planning a $1.2 billion incentive program spanning seven years, projected to attract $1.8 billion in private investment, with a focus on high-end equipment manufacturing including TBMs. However, when spread across seven years and divided among three sectors, annual funding per sector amounts to only a few tens of millions of dollars. For R&D in TBM-related industries, this represents a negligible sum, serving primarily symbolic purposes.
In contrast, China’s TBM industry has taken over two decades to reach its current level: included in the National High-Tech Research and Development Program (863 Plan) in 2002, the first domestically developed TBM rolled off the production line in 2008, and the final technological bottleneck—the world’s largest monolithic main bearing with a diameter of 8.61 meters—was overcome in 2023. Today, core component localization exceeds 90%, and China accounts for 60% of global TBM production.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1880823867021511/
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author.