Page 58 - Construction_Opportunities_Sep_2026

EQUIPMENT TICKER TAPE

INDIA WEIGHS `10,000 CRORE PUSH TO BUILD CRITICAL assessing how much support would be needed to make local
CONSTRUCTION GEAR AT HOME production commercially viable while also reducing dependence
India is preparing a seven-year incentive scheme worth $1.2 on imported machines. The proposal is expected to attract $1.8
billion to encourage domestic manufacturing of construction billion of fresh investment over seven years, creating a longer
equipment, especially tunnel boring machines. The plan is aimed runway for manufacturers that are willing to set up capacity in
at reducing import dependence, drawing fresh investment and India.
giving local firms a foothold in a segment dominated by overseas
suppliers. The proposal comes against the backdrop of strained Why tunnel boring machines are at the centre of the plan
India-China trade ties and rising infrastructure spending at home, Among the most strategically important items in the package are
which has made reliable access to specialised machinery a tunnel boring machines, a segment where India has remained
strategic issue for policymakers. heavily reliant on imported equipment. These machines are
India is preparing a fresh industrial intervention aimed at one essential for metro rail projects, highway tunnels and other
of its most import-heavy infrastructure segments: construction underground works, and China has been among the key suppliers
equipment. The proposed move, if cleared, would place a seven- in this space. The dependence has exposed a recurring weakness
year incentive framework behind domestic production of high- in India’s industrial ecosystem: the country has expanded its
value machinery that has long come from overseas suppliers, infrastructure ambition faster than its ability to manufacture some
especially China, and could reshape a market that is becoming of the most complex machines needed to execute it.
more central to India’s infrastructure build-out. The issue has become more sensitive in recent years. After the
deadly border clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in
Policy push targets machines that shape India’s infrastructure 2020, New Delhi tightened restrictions on investments and public
boom procurement from China. Later, in 2024, Chinese authorities
The plan under consideration carries an outlay of $1.2 billion and are said to have slowed customs clearances for tunnel boring
is designed to encourage local manufacturing of specialised machine shipments bound for India, adding another layer of
equipment such as tunnel boring machines, fire-fighting systems uncertainty to supply chains for large projects.
and elevators used in tall buildings, government sources said. The Imports of tunnelling machinery from China fell sharply, dropping
objective is not merely to subsidise factories, but to build a deeper to $3 million in 2023-24 from $18 million a year earlier, then
industrial base in categories where domestic capability remains declining further to $500,000 in 2024-25 and $800,000 in 2025-
thin and imports still dominate. 26, the government sources said. The numbers underline how
According to the sources, the scheme has been structured after geopolitical friction and trade controls have started to feed

58 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|SEPTEMBER 2026