Beijing Puts India's Tunnel Projects on a Licence Leash

China will require licences for exports of tunnel boring machines and other advanced construction equipment to India from Nov. 18, placing projects that rely on Chinese machinery behind a gate controlled by the state. The restrictions also cover critical TBM components, crawling excavators and high-altitude concrete spraying systems.

The rules apply to what China calls “sensitive countries” with which it has territorial disputes, including India. Exports to other destinations face a simpler registration and information-reporting process. Foreign firms manufacturing the controlled goods in China can't sell them to sensitive countries without Beijing's approval, while importers and other entities in non-sensitive locations can't transfer Chinese-origin goods to those countries without authorization.

A licence between the machine and the project

Tunnel boring machines, described as mechanical earthworms, can be longer than a jumbo jet, with circular cutting faces more than 10 metres in diameter. India uses them to dig tunnels for roads, railways, power projects and other infrastructure. China is the world's top producer, and many TBMs operating in India are Chinese-made.

At least three Chinese-made TBMs intended for Indian projects were held up in China in 2024, causing several months of delay. One was for a high-speed rail corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The machines were manufactured in China by Herrenknecht, a German company.

Pranay Kotasthane, chair of the High Tech Geopolitics Programme at the Takshashila Institution, said the controls “do reflect a sense of fear among the Chinese that why should their products be used against them and why should things made in China be used to build strategic ecosystems elsewhere?” Specific controls on high-altitude wet sprayers intended for use at 3,000 metres or higher and other high-elevation machines have strengthened suspicions that India is the target. Kotasthane said: “If you look at the intersection of the countries which are doing things above 3,000m and have a dispute with China, there's only one country (India).”

Scholars said the restrictions may be intended to slow India's strategic infrastructure development along the Himalayan border. A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said the controlled items are “clearly dual-use” and could serve civilian infrastructure or military and strategic defence operations. Chinese media commentaries said TBM exports could help India build military infrastructure on the border.

The cost lands on projects

Vinayak Chatterjee, co-founder and managing trustee of The Infravision Foundation, estimated that about 40% of the roughly 100 TBMs operating in India are Chinese. He said restrictions could slow the acquisition of spare parts and delay projects. “The current concern is about the existing (Chinese) stock, whether stores or spares will come... we will have to see how the Chinese react to it because they haven't announced an outright ban yet,” he said.

India's tunnelling machinery imports from China fell from US$18 million in 2022-23 to US$800,000 in 2025-26, according to Reuters. Herrenknecht has increasingly built TBMs at its plant in Chennai, including the two largest machines ordered in India for a road-link project in Mumbai. Indian companies BEML Limited and Larsen & Toubro are also working to produce TBMs domestically.

Afcons Infrastructure, whose high-speed rail project was affected by delayed imports in 2024, now has about 20 TBMs of its own and has diversified its suppliers. Its head of corporate communications, Naresh Sharma, said there would be “no impact of this (Oct 19) decision” on the company's operations because it could source machines from manufacturers in India and elsewhere.

Domestic production, with strings attached

India has stepped up efforts to build TBMs domestically. Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said on Nov. 3: “If they (China) don't give us tunnel boring machines, we will develop it in India.” In August 2026, Reuters reported that India was preparing to approve a US$1.2 billion incentive scheme to strengthen domestic manufacturing of high-value, technologically advanced construction and infrastructure equipment and reduce reliance on imports.

The restrictions could create an opportunity to attract foreign manufacturers from China to India, Kotasthane said. But he also pointed to tax regulation, land-acquisition hurdles and customs-clearance delays as barriers to bringing manufacturers in. “The push from China exists, but can we pull companies on our side?” he said. The machinery may be made in new locations; the power to decide who can buy it remains with states and corporations.