China’s new controls on tunnel-boring machines (TBMs) will add a licensing step for some overseas shipments from Nov. 18, as India’s commerce minister says the country will build the machines if Chinese supplies are withheld.
China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and General Administration of Customs (GAC) issued Announcement No. 50 on Oct. 19. It covers specified full-face TBMs, key components such as cutterheads and main-drive systems, and technology used to remanufacture controlled equipment. The list also includes certain walking excavators and high-altitude wet-shotcrete systems. EconoTimes previously explained the export routes for tunnel-boring equipment.
Exporters need a license for shipments to destinations China considers sensitive amid disputes. Other destinations follow a registration process, while onward transfers of covered China-origin goods to disputed destinations require authorization. The notice does not say which destinations fall under the licensing requirement or identify India.
MOFCOM says the equipment has potential civilian and military uses, citing national security and nonproliferation obligations. The ministry said applications that meet the rules would be approved; the announcement sets no export quota.
At the Young Leaders Discourse Forum on Nov. 3, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal made domestic production conditional on China withholding supplies. “If they don’t give us tunnel-boring machines, we will develop it in India,” Goyal said. He did not specify a budget, manufacturer, production target or timetable.
India’s Ministry of Railways says the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail project includes a 21-kilometer underground section. TBMs are assigned 16 kilometers of the work; crews had completed the other five kilometers by July 5 using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method.
Vinayak Chatterjee of The Infravision Foundation told The Straits Times that Chinese-made machines account for about 40% of the roughly 100 TBMs operating in India. He said parts access could slow and some projects could face delays. Pranay Kotasthane of the Takshashila Institution told the newspaper that the controls could prompt foreign manufacturers to shift production to India. He said tax, land-acquisition and customs reforms would influence the country’s ability to attract them.
The Indian Express reported in 2024 that German manufacturer Herrenknecht AG said its TBM shipments from China to India encountered customs-processing difficulties for several months. China’s new controls are scheduled to take effect Nov. 18.
