Sona Comstar’s MD raises quality concern issues over India-produced rare earth magnets: Report

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Auto component maker Sona Comstar’s managing director Vivek Vikram Singh expressed concerns over the quality of rare earth permanent magnets (REPMs), set to be manufactured under the Centre’s proposed production-linked scheme, a report by the Business Standard said on October 13.

Singh, during a meeting with the officials from the ministry of heavy industries and the department of atomic energy, requested the government to build appropriate testing infrastructure to ensure quality of the magnets, the paper said citing sources.

The comments were made after another executive from Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL) said the grade and quality of rare earth elements available in the country are inferior than those available in China and other nations, the report said.

This led to the implementation of three additional steps in the refining process for concerting these elements into rare earth oxides, increasing the production costs, the paper said.

Under the Centre’s proposed PLI scheme, the firms will receive financial incentives- both capital subsidy and sales-based support to successful bidders.