Archive · 6 Aug 2026
Indore Metro Begins Underground Tunnelling With 1,000-Tonne TBM
A big city in India called Indore is building a special underground train system called a Metro.
To dig tunnels under the ground, workers are using a giant machine called a Tunnel Boring Machine, or TBM.
The machine is as heavy as about 1,000 tonnes and was brought from Thailand.
Right now, workers in Indore are putting the machine together, almost like building a huge robot.
When it is ready, the machine will dig under the ground near the Airport.
The giant machine works like a worm, digging through soil and rock and making about 20 metres of tunnel every single day.
While it digs, it also puts strong concrete walls in place so the tunnel stays safe and strong.
Two tunnels will be built, one for trains going in each direction.
In total, about 12 kilometres of the Metro will run underground, and finishing it will take four to five years.
Indore Metro is set to begin tunnelling nearly 20 metres underground using a 1,000-tonne Tunnel Boring Machine imported from Thailand.
The TBM is currently being assembled in Indore, with assembly expected to take about a month before deployment near the Airport.
The machine can excavate about 20 metres of tunnel daily and simultaneously installs reinforced concrete tunnel lining for safety.
The first underground stretch will run from Airport to Kalani Nagar, part of roughly 12 km of underground Metro network.
Officials estimate the underground section will take four to five years to complete, while the 17.5-km elevated corridor nears completion.
- Who
- Indore Metro authorities and construction teams operating the imported Tunnel Boring Machine.
- What
- Starting underground tunnelling for the city's first underground Metro corridor using a 1,000-tonne TBM.
- When
- Tunnelling is expected to begin within the next month, after about a month of machine assembly.
- Where
- Indore, Madhya Pradesh, starting near the Airport and running to Kalani Nagar.
- Why
- To build the underground section of the Indore Metro network; the Airport area was chosen for easier construction due to its low population density.
- TBM weight
- Around 1,000 tonnes
- TBM origin
- Imported from Thailand
- Excavation rate
- Nearly 20 metres of tunnel per day
- Tunnel depth
- Nearly 20 metres below ground
- Cutter head diameter
- 6.5 metres
- First underground stretch
- Airport to Kalani Nagar
- Underground network length
- About 12 km
- Expected completion
- Four to five years for the underground section