China’s New Tunnel-Boring Export Controls Cast Shadow Over Warming Ties With India
China announced export controls on tunnel-boring machines, including shield machines and hard-rock borers, and on critical components such as cutterheads and main drive systems, under a two-tier approval system taking effect on November 18 that requires licences for destinations Beijing calls sensitive but has not publicly identified. In India, officials plan to consult industry stakeholders on limiting the impact, while a 2020 Indian Express investigation cited industry estimates that nearly 90 percent of tunnel-boring machines deployed in the country had links to China. New Delhi is preparing a $1.2 billion manufacturing incentive programme, with tunnel-boring machines among the priority products.
Why it matters: The measure makes export controls on capital equipment a lever in the India-China rivalry, linking infrastructure supply chains directly to military mobility along the disputed Himalayan border.