Coal India drops a surprise in India's rare earth race

Agencies New Delhi: The heavy industries ministry has opened financial bids under the scheme to set up rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing facilities in the country. Officials said state-owned Coal India has sought a nil per kg incentive. Hyderabad-based IRP Infratech consortium with US-headquartered BaRupOn has also sought zero per kilogram production-linked incentive under the central scheme. Prozeal, ReNew, and Midwest have sought per-kg incentives ranging from ₹243 to ₹505 under the scheme. Also read | India ups the energy stakes with new type of shared deepwater play India is the world's third-largest rare earth resource-rich country. Calls to harness them intensified after China curbed exports of REPM in April 2025, threatening supply chains across industries. A ₹7,280 crore scheme to promote manufacturing of sintered Rare Earth Permanent Magnet (REPM) was approved in November last year. The ministry of heavy industries (MHI) is offering a ₹150 crore capital subsidy and a per kg sale incentive of up to ₹2,150 under the scheme aimed to reduce import dependence. Live Events Responding to queries from ET, Midwest Energy said it has bid ₹505.05 per kg with a cap of 1200 tonnes per annum (TPA) plus ₹150 crore as capital expenditure incentive. "Midwest is an early entrant with a phase-I plant with a capacity of 500 TPA, which is under commissioning with planned expansion to cover 1200 TPA to be completed by August, 2027," the company said. ET Bureau Prozeal Green Energy bid ₹243 per kg, while ReNew Power bid ₹449 per kg. In August, MHI said it had received 20 bids through a global tender. Of these, 16 qualified after the technical round. Seven-Year Scheme The scheme envisions allocating the total capacity to five beneficiaries. Each will be allotted up to 1,200 MTPA of capacity. Also read | Under attack, banks bolster cyber covers The scheme will run for seven years from the date of award, including a two-year gestation period for setting up an integrated manufacturing facility, and five years for incentive disbursement on the sale of REPM. These magnets are among the most powerful in the world and are widely used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, high-end electronics, aerospace and defence systems. Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel ) Read More News on coal india midwest energy Rare Earth Permanent Magnets Coal India IRP Infratech ReNew Power Electric Vehicle Magnets rare earth india rare earth scheme critical mineral (Catch all the Business News , Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times .) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online. ... more less (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel ) Read More News on coal india midwest energy Rare Earth Permanent Magnets Coal India IRP Infratech ReNew Power Electric Vehicle Magnets rare earth india rare earth scheme critical mineral (Catch all the Business News , Breaking News and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times .) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online. ... more less