Nearly 90 percent of Tunnel Boring Machines across India have a Chinese connection.
Even as the calls for boycott of Chinese products gather pace, according to an Indian Express report, there are at least eight China-manufactured Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) that are being used to dig tunnels for big-ticket projects in Mumbai.
Moreover, of the 18 total TBMs in use, 10 are owned by Western companies but they have been manufactured in China.
That, the report says, is the reason why officials in Mumbai are of the opinion that it would be impossible to review Made in China heavy machinery without causing significant delay and cost escalation to these projects.
According to the report, the biggest of these TBMs, which arrived in Mumbai on April 26, has been manufactured by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co. The TBM will be used for digging a 3.45-km twin undersea tunnel for the coastal road project from Girgaum Chowpatty to Malabar Hill.
There are other projects as well. For instance, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation is using the TBMs for the construction of 33.5 km Metro line 3 and 26 of the underground stations it will cater to. According to the newspaper, nearly 90 percent of TBMs across India have a Chinese connection.
"China has a dominating presence in the heavy equipment machinery segment. It is not possible to replace the sources of these type of equipment overnight. We will have to depend on Chinese equipment till Indian firms like BHEL or BEML start manufacturing these large machineries," a former official from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said.
"Even if you source from a non-Chinese company you never know when it will be acquired by the Chinese," an official from a leading infrastructure construction firm told the newspaper. He gave the example of Robbins Company, a US-based manufacturer acquired by China's state-owned Northern Heavy Industries in 2016. The company now supplies four of the TBMs deployed for the construction of Metro line 3.
"It is very difficult to avoid Chinese involvement as such a huge task can be done by these specialised and skilled machines that are only available with China," an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.WEBINAR: Tune in to find out how term insurance can provide risk protection during tough times. Register Now!
