India to develop tunneling machines rather than yield to China’s curbs: Goyal

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Will not compromise on dairy, GM items, other sensitivities in FTAs being negotiated, says Commerce Minister

By Amiti Sen

Updated - November 03, 2026 at 08:12 PM. | New Delhi, Nov 3

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal at the 'Young Leader Discourse Forum' at Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi | Photo Credit: ANI

India will develop tunnel boring machines domestically rather than yield to China’s restrictions on their supply, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday, asserting that the country would not buckle under pressure from Beijing.

New Delhi had also consistently protected its dairy sector in free trade agreements (FTAs) and kept out imports of genetically modified (GM) products, and would not dilute these positions, the Minister said during an interaction with students of Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College.

Responding to questions on China’s recent restrictions on tunnel boring machine exports, Goyal said India’s relations with Beijing remained good and could improve further if there were no other impediments, but it would not be cowed down by such restrictions.

“If they don’t give us tunnel-boring machine, we will develop it in India. India is not a country than bends on its knees. When they stopped rare earth (exports), we didn’t go to them with a (begging) bowl. I had a meeting with start-ups in the field and encouraged them to make our own motors without rare earth. ..Some of our start-ups have started producing motors without rare earth with equal quality and equal efficiency,” Goyal said.

FTA negotiations

On the FTAs being negotiated by India and the things to watch out for, Goyal said that there were two aspects to such pacts. One was to get a better market access in the areas of offensive interest competing countries, while the second was to protect sensitivities.

India’s offensive interest are in sectors where it has pricing and quality strengths such as textiles, footwear & leather, gems & jewellery, pharmaceuticals, processed food, and horticulture & floriculture products, where it wants duties lower than those imposed on competing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and China, Goyal said.

At the same time, New Delhi is very sensitive to opening up sensitive sectors. “We are very sensitive to opening up dairy. Till date, we have never opened up dairy for anybody. We are very sensitive not to allow any GM products to come to India and we have never allowed it. And we will never allow it in the future,” he said.

He added that there were sectors that were exposed to religious sensitivities, which too would be protected. “Very often in foreign countries, they use calf meat or rennet while producing their dairy products. We don’t allow that in India. It is strictly got to be certified so that religious sensitivities of the large parts of India are not hurt,” he said while replying to a question on trade pacts.

Rennet is an enzyme traditionally extracted from the stomach lining of young calves and used in cheese-making.

India has never compromised on a single sensitive item that it wants to protect, whether farmers, fishers or MSMEs, he said. 

Goyal’s comments are important as the US has been seeking market access for its GM crops as well as dairy items in India, and sources say that New Delhi’s inflexibility in these areas is one of the reasons for a delay in the finalisation of an interim trade deal between the two countries.

Published on November 3, 2026

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