Firms flag raw material gaps, incentive design issues in magnet scheme

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES, LARSEN & Toubro, Sona Comstar, Proterial, Vedanta, Tata Autocomp, JSW Group and NLC India were among at least 25 companies that participated in apre-bid meeting convened by the ministry of heavy industries on Tuesday for the proposed %7,280-crore scheme to promote domestic manufacturing of sintered rare earth permanent magnets (REPM).

- NITIN KUMAR

At the meeting, companies broadly supported the objective of reducing import dependence but raised concerns over how key provisions of the scheme could affect project viability, particularly around raw material access and the way incentives are structured.

One of the main issues flagged was the limited allocation of processed rare earth material. Under the scheme, state-run IREL will supply about 500 tonne per annum of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, but only to three selected bidders. At the same time, the government plans to select up to five beneficiaries.