Is a technology that digs through mountains being used as a strategic leverage by China against India? The question becomes pertinent as Beijing tightens its grip on technology related to tunnel-boring machines (TBMs), a piece of industrial equipment that has acquired strategic significance beyond construction sites. Experts suggest that China's move to control TBM technology is aimed at India, which has accelerated its infrastructure push rapidly along the China border since the 2020 Galwan clashes to improve military deployment.
China's Commerce Ministry on October 19 announced export controls on TBMs and related equipment, with licencing requirements taking effect on November 18. Beijing cited "national security" and "non-proliferation" obligations while making the announcement.
The move has raised concerns for India, which currently relies majorly on specialised tunnelling machinery from China and a few other countries for major railway, highway and underground infrastructure projects. Like in rare earths, China has a near monopoly on TBM technology.
"There's no doubt that China's TBM sanctions are aimed at India's strategic infrastructure projects along the 4,056-km Line of Actual Control (LAC)," senior journalist and defence expert Sandeep Unnithan told India Today Digital.
Unnithan also added that the tunnelling technology has become increasingly important as India expands its network of roads, bridges and other infrastructure near the Chinese border. Historically, India and China never shared borders, but expansionist Beijing's Tibet transgression turned the two into neighbours.
However, the extent of the immediate threat from China's control of the technology remains contested because some of India's most strategically important border road tunnels were built without full-face TBMs. But TBMs have become highly important for long railway tunnels in challenging Himalayan terrain, as demonstrated by the Rishikesh–Karnaprayag rail project, although unpredictable geology can make their use difficult.
CHINA'S ADVANTAGE TO THE TUNNEL-BORING MACHINE INDUSTRY
China has emerged as the dominant producer of tunnel-boring machines, accounting for an estimated 70% of the global market and manufacturing around 95% of the machines used domestically. Germany, Japan, the United States and France are among the other major players in this specialised industry. However, several foreign firms, in fact, get their machines assembled in China, which gives Beijing a bigger advantage.
TBMs are expensive, technically complex machines designed for specific tunnel diameters and geological conditions. Replacing one after construction has begun can be difficult, while delays in delivery can disrupt excavation schedules and increase project costs. China's export controls could therefore create uncertainty for projects that depend on Chinese-made machinery or components covered by the restrictions.
India has already experienced these supply difficulties caused by China.
In 2024, shipments of TBMs manufactured in China by German engineering major Herrenknecht were delayed. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal raised concerns over the issue with then-German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck.
The episode highlighted a weakness in global procurement in India. Even if the machines are purchased from a German manufacturer, it does not necessarily eliminate exposure to Chinese restrictions if a machine is manufactured in China or depends on components subject to Beijing's controls.
India later received delayed TBMs in March 2026 as bilateral tensions eased to some extent, but the new licencing regime introduces another layer of uncertainty for New Delhi.
ARE INDIA'S BORDER TUNNEL PROJECTS AT RISK AFTER NEW CHINESE CURBS?
Since the Galwan clashes, India has accelerated infrastructure construction to improve access to forward areas along the LAC, particularly in eastern Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. All-weather tunnels that India has built will reduce dependence on vulnerable mountain passes and help move troops and supplies through difficult terrain.
Yet China's controls should not automatically be interpreted as a direct threat to every strategic border tunnel.
The Zojila Tunnel, a 13.15-km project intended to improve all-weather connectivity between Kashmir and Ladakh, achieved its final breakthrough in June 2026. Despite its strategic importance for military and civilian movement along the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh route, it was excavated primarily using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), which relies on sequential excavation, drilling and blasting, rock bolts, shotcrete and geological monitoring.
The Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, which improves all-weather access to the strategically important Tawang sector, also relied primarily on NATM and drill-and-blast techniques. The Shyok Tunnel in eastern Ladakh uses a cut-and-cover approach.
SO, WHY THIS FEAR OF VULNERABILITY ABOUT TBMs AND CHINESE RESTRICTIONS?
The more immediate risk lies in India's wider underground infrastructure programme, which includes railway corridors, metro networks, highways and hydropower projects.
The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag railway project in Uttarakhand explains the role TBMs can play in challenging mountain terrain. Large Herrenknecht machines named Shiv and Shakti have been used to excavate sections of the railway tunnel network. Although the project is not a frontline road tunnel directly on the LAC, it demonstrates the importance of specialised machinery to India's broader northern connectivity.
"These projects, particularly the tunnels which provide all-weather connectivity to the LAC, are crucial to moving troops to the LAC in standoffs with China," Sandeep Unnithan told India Today Digital.
He also argued that tunnelling technology deserves the same long-term strategic attention India has given to other technologies like nuclear submarine technology.
India's imports of tunnelling machinery from China have declined sharply. According to figures cited by Reuters, they fell from $18 million in 2022-23 to $3 million in 2023-24, then to $500,000 in 2024-25, before rising marginally to $800,000 in 2025-26.
"TBMs technology is an area China has a monopoly on," Unnithan said. He cited a January 2025 report by Takshashila Institution that revealed a huge uptick in India's import of self-propelled TBMs between 2021-22.
"Standard TBMs, India's dependence on China in 2019 amounted to almost 100%," Unnithan added, citing the report. "From 2020 onwards, post the Ladakh standoff and restrictions on Chinese TBM supplies, there has been a diversification away from China," he said.
CAN INDIA BUILD ITS OWN TUNNEL-BORING MACHINE BUILDING CAPABILITY?
India is attempting to reduce its dependence through domestic assembly, foreign partnerships and indigenous machine development.
Herrenknecht established an assembly facility in Chennai in 2007 and manufactured ten TBMs there for Chennai Metro Phase 2 between July 2022 and July 2023. In 2025, it acquired land in North Chennai for a planned manufacturing plant, reflecting the country's growing demand for tunnelling equipment.
State-owned Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) is pursuing indigenous TBM development, with plans covering different machine diameters and an initial prototype of approximately 6.5 metres. The Centre's proposed $1.2-billion incentive scheme for construction and infrastructure equipment manufacturing could further support domestic capabilities.
Defence expert Unnithan pointed to Iran's experience of moving from dependence on Western tunnelling technology towards domestic manufacturing as a lesson for India. He has argued that the country should pursue TBM technology with the same long-term focus it brought to nuclear submarine development.
"The India of 20–30 years hence will thank us," he told India Today Digital.
IS THE CHINESE TBMs RESTRICTION A WARNING OF A BLOCKADE?
China's export controls underscore how industrial dominance can become geopolitical leverage. Beijing's restrictions might affect projects that depend on Chinese-origin machinery, but they do not amount to an automatic blockade of India's border infrastructure. Major road tunnels such as Sela and Zojila have relied primarily on conventional excavation, while TBMs play a larger role in many railway, metro and other underground projects.
India's immediate task is to identify vulnerable supply chains, diversify procurement and secure access to machinery, spare parts and technical support. Its longer-term challenge is to build a domestic industry capable of designing, manufacturing and maintaining advanced TBMs.
India's infrastructure push along the LAC is ultimately about ensuring that geography and weather do not dictate the speed at which troops and supplies can move. China's latest move might not directly stop India's effort, but it showcases why strategic autonomy depends not only on building roads and tunnels, but also on controlling access to the technology needed to build them.
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