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Blasthole drilling rigs
What it is
Track-mounted rigs that drill the holes into which explosives are loaded for opencast blasting. They are sold to mining companies and to contract miners, and increasingly supplied with operators and maintenance under service contracts
Demand tracks overburden removal volumes rather than mine count
Impact on industries
- Demand grows with deepening mines and worsening stripping ratios, so it outpaces coal tonnage growth itself
- Shifting from equipment sale to drilling-service contracts converts a cyclical capital sale into recurring revenue tied to mine output
- Customer base is dominated by Coal India and a few large miners, so pricing power is limited and orders are tender-driven
- Rig sales are lumpy and deferrable, so a customer capex pause removes revenue abruptly