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COVER STORY
LEAD STORY TUNNEL BORING MACHINES

Tunnel Boring Machines:

Transforming India’s

Infrastructure Landscape

India is witnessing one of the largest infrastructure development
programs in the world. With rapid urbanization, increasing population
density, and the need for sustainable transportation and utility networks,
underground construction has become an essential component of
modern infrastructure. At the heart of this transformation is the Tunnel
Boring Machine (TBM) an engineering innovation that has revolutionized
the way tunnels are constructed.

A Tunnel Boring Machine is a highly specialized maintain high levels of safety has made
piece of equipment designed to excavate them the preferred choice for large scale
tunnels through varying geological conditions underground infrastructure projects.
while simultaneously installing tunnel lining India’s adoption of TBM technology has
segments. Unlike conventional drilling and accelerated significantly over the past
blasting methods, TBMs provide a safer, faster, decade. Major metro rail systems in cities
and more precise method of tunnelling, such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai,
particularly in densely populated urban and Kolkata have relied extensively on TBMs
environments. Their ability to minimize surface to construct underground corridors beneath
disruption, reduce vibration and noise, and some of the country’s busiest commercial

34 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|JULY 2026