Union Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday confronted German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck over China blocking sale of German Tunnel Borring Machines to India. Goyal said that India will stop buying from Germany if such problems occur. The confrontation took place on a Delhi Metro train, video of which has gone viral.
Robert Habeck, who is also the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs of Germany, is on a visit to India to attend the 7th India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations. He took a ride with Piyush Goyal on the Delhi metro to reach the YashoBhoomi Convention Centre in Dwarka, Delhi.
During the ride, Piyush Goyal told Robert Habeck that India is buying Tunnel Boring Machines from a German company named Herrenknecht, which makes the machines in China. He informed the German minister that China is now blocking the sale of the TBMs to India, indicating how this has effected vital infrastructure projects in India.
The video of the incident was shared by an X user with the user name ‘Lord Bebo’, who criticised how the way Habeck responded to Goyal. In the video, Goyal can be heard telling Habeck, “See your German company is supplying us some tunnel boring machines which they make in China. But China is not allowing them to sell them to me”.
When Goyal said that the name of the company is Herrenknecht, Robert Habeck displayed ignorance about the name. He asked, “They are producing in China?” to which Piyush Goyal replied yes. The Indian minister then added, “We should stop buying German equipment now”.
While Piyush Goyal was standing, Habeck was sitting during this conversation. After Goyal talked about stopping to buy German equipment, he stood up and said, “I think I should listen to you”.
Tunnel Boring Machines of Herrenknecht have been used in several projects in India, including metro projects of Delhi, Bangalore Chennai, Kolkata, the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project.
Piyush Goyal confronts German Vice Chancellor over China blocking sale of German TBMs to India