Mega Machines!
But behind the spectacle, an important question stood out: are these mega machines practical for Indian conditions?
India’s infra boom
India is in the middle of an infrastructure transformation. With aspirations like building 13,000 km of national highways per year, developing 100+ smart cities, and completing multiple high-speed rail corridors, India’s ambitions are mammoth.
“Projects like the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway or the Chenab Rail Bridge require machines that were unheard of in India even five years ago,” says Ratan Lal Kashyap, President – Supply Chain Management, Dinesh Chandra R Agrawal Infracon. “We’re no longer talking about bulldozers and backhoes. We’re deploying 800-tonne (t) crawler cranes and 14-metre (m)-wide pavers.”
“It’s a double-edged sword,” explains SP Rajan, Vice President and Head – Competency Center, RBF Business Unit, L&T Construction. “We’ve bought machines costing Rs 500 to 600 million each. But unless there are projects of equivalent magnitude, they remain idle. The Indian infrastructure ecosystem isn’t uniformly equipped to absorb these machines. We’ve seen L&T bring in two big pavers—13 to 14 m wide. But when you try moving that equipment to another project, the next project isn’t ready to utilise it. The ground realities don’t match the scale of the machines yet.”
India’s project ecosystem still largely operates in fragmented EPC packages. Amol Sinha, Director – Product and Training, Terex India: “A mega machine needs continuous deployment over long stretches to justify its cost. If there’s a delay midstream, the ROI crumbles.”
Even in public projects, specifications haven’t evolved in tandem with global trends. Anand Sundaresan, Director, Ammann India, points out: “In most global markets, 20-t and 30-t soil compactors are the norm. In India, we still specify 10-t rollers—technology from 40 years ago.”
Financial balancing act
A 600-t crane or a 1000 HP crawler excavator can cost upwards of Rs 200 to 400 million. That’s before factoring in logistics, spares, insurance, skilled operators, and downtime costs. So, who’s buying them?
“Only large EPC players or pan-India rental giants can take this bet,” says Vijay Kumar, CEO, Infrastructure Equipment Skill Council (IESC). “For mid-level contractors, this is a financial cliff.”
Buy-back schemes and leasing models are becoming more common. But as Rajan clarifies, “Buy-backs are useful, but the rates are low. If I don’t account for 75 per cent of the machine cost in my project estimates, I risk a financial debacle.”
Rental companies are also caught in a bind. Satin Sachdeva, Founder and Secretary General, Construction Equipment Rental Association (CERA), said: “We’ve brought in equipment like 800-, 1,000-, and even 1,200-t cranes. But it’s a huge risk. Unless we’re assured of eight to nine months of work in a year, these machines turn into liabilities. Big EMIs, big headaches.”
Policy inconsistencies further compound the risk. “We invested in concrete pavers, only to later hear from NHAI that bitumen is acceptable. Suddenly, machines are idle,” he adds.
Logistics and localisation
Even when a mega machine is imported and purchased, it’s far from ready for action. The challenges of logistics are often underestimated. Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) tell another story. For the Chennai Metro, imported TBMs were disassembled, packed into 20+ trailers, and reassembled at launch shafts.
Some OEMs are attempting localisation to ease this. Herrenknecht now maintains service hubs in India.
In fact, Herrenknecht is set to play a key role in the construction of the Versova-Dahisar Link Road in Mumbai. Herrenknecht will supply two Mixshields, each with a diameter of 15,620 mm, which will make them the largest TBMs in India. The project owner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and client Megha Engineering & Infrastructures (MEIL) rely on Herrenknecht’s longstanding expertise. The two powerful Mixshields are optimally designed for the challenging geological conditions of the region: slightly weathered basalt with a uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of up to 150 MPa. The overburden of the tunnels ranges between approximately 13 and 23 m. To ensure safe operations under these conditions, the TBMs are designed for a maximum operating pressure of 5 bar. The machines will be manufactured at Herrenknecht’s Chennai plant in India, using core components from Schwanau. Thereby local expertise is strengthened, and transport distances are reduced in an environmentally friendly manner.
Herrenknecht is also supplying four specialists for mechanised tunnelling in hard rock for the Mumbai Thane-Borivali Road Link: four single shield TBMs, each with a diameter of 13.28 m for excavating predominantly moderately weathered basalt with a uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of up to 150 Megapascal.
Said Manoj Garg, Managing Director, Herrenknecht India, “India is moving at a fast pace with metro now reaching tier 3 cities as well. There is a huge demand for all sizes and types of TBMs in coming years and India is currently ranked the second-largest TBM market in the world.”
Even other TMB manufacturers like Zoomlion and SANY have expanded assembly units, though most of their mega machines are still imports.
Rajan is optimistic but measured: “TBMs are seeing higher adoption. From 3-m machines in cities to 10-m water tunnel systems, we’re slowly graduating. But mainstream adoption—especially for cranes or marine equipment—is still a few years away.”
Skilling for scale
With mega machines come mega expectations—from precision controls to predictive maintenance. “We don’t have the manpower for a 16-m paver or a 300-t asphalt plant,” says Sachdeva. “Even rental companies hesitate because they can’t find trained operators.” Rajan agrees: “You can bring in a 3 cubic metre (cu m) wheel loader, but if your site still uses 1.7 cu m loaders, you won’t get efficiency.” This is a critical bottleneck. That’s why the IESC has launched programmes for high-capacity crane operators, TBM specialists, and AI-based paver systems.
“Skilling is not just about safety—it’s about efficiency,” adds Sundaresan. “An untrained operator burns more diesel, takes more passes, and wastes productivity.”
Policy gaps
Another silent barrier are the outdated government procurement norms. “Our codes don’t support machines that compact more than 200 mm,” Rajan explains. “But impact rollers can handle 900 mm. What’s the point of investing in such machines if the project spec won’t let us use them?”
Sundaresan says, “We need policymakers to update standards and encourage larger, faster machines. If we want speed, scale, and safety, the system must evolve.”
It’s not just about machine specs—it’s about enabling captive plants, higher-capacity batching systems, and integrating mega equipment into project planning. “We’re still selling 260-t asphalt plants in a country building Rs 1,000 billion worth of roads annually,” Sundaresan remarks. “In Europe, that’s considered a small plant.”
Mega potential
While roads and bridges wrestle with adoption, mining is already a stronghold for mega machines.
“Mining cannot afford small machines,” Rajan notes. “You need mega excavators, haul trucks, and drill rigs. It’s the only way to be viable.” Similarly, port and marine infrastructure is emerging as an untapped opportunity. “There are only 10 players using marine cranes in India,” he adds. “We’re still placing normal cranes on barges instead of using jack-ups or floating platforms. Marine is the next frontier—but we need bold investments.”
Still, even within mining and marine, scalability is capped by project clustering, equipment compatibility, and policy support.
Big machines, bigger questions
India’s infrastructure ambition is beyond doubt. But can the ecosystem—financial, regulatory, logistical, and human—grow quickly enough to accommodate mega machines? SP Rajan summarises it best: “I love mega machines. But I can’t survive with them.” The machines are beautiful, efficient, and futuristic—but without projects of suitable scale, trained operators, updated policies, and flexible finances, they remain underutilised.
With smart cities, mega metros, energy corridors, and port expansions taking shape—India will need these machines sooner rather than later. At bauma 2025, the message was clear: the future of construction is big, bold, and intelligent. For India, the challenge isn’t just to import mega machines—but to build the ecosystem that lets them thrive.
For the Mumbai Metro Line 3, Afcons imported multiple Herrenknecht TBMs, each costing over Rs 100 crore. The machines bored through hard basalt rock, enabling tunnelling at speeds that conventional methods couldn’t match.
TBMs saved Afcons almost 18 months in timelines. But transporting them via Jawaharlal Nehru Port to central Mumbai, assembling them in tight shafts, and getting skilled operators—it was a logistical symphony.
Post-project, the machines were either refurbished and re-deployed or shipped to similar metro projects, improving asset utilisation.
The Indian market’s cautious stance towards mega machines isn’t surprising. But change is underway. For adoption to accelerate, a supportive ecosystem must come into place:
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