Overview
- China announced new export‑licensing rules for tunnel‑boring machines and related components on October 19 that take effect on November 18, 2026, requiring exporters to obtain licences for specified tunnelling equipment.
- India’s ministers responded publicly on November 3, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal saying India will make TBMs domestically if supplies are denied and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reporting that 8‑metre and 15‑metre machines are already being produced and a Tamil Nadu plant exists.
- The rules extend to components and spare parts, raising immediate risks to maintenance and timelines for metro, rail and road tunnelling projects that rely on regular parts replacement and specialist repairs.
- Analysts warn the controls expose a concentration risk because Chinese firms supply a large share of the global TBM market — state figures cited about 70% — and point to past 2024 delays in cross‑border TBM sales as a precedent for disruption.
- In the near term India plans to reallocate existing machines to priority projects and scale local manufacturing for larger TBMs, a shift that could speed industrial investment and wider efforts by countries to diversify away from single‑country suppliers.