IIT Hyderabad, DMRL and Innomet to build 100 kg industrial-scale gas atomizer for high-purity metal powders

IIT Hyderabad, the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), and Hyderabad-based Innomet Advanced Materials Ltd have partnered to develop a 100 kg Inert Gas Atomizer facility for producing high-purity spherical metal powders. The project is funded by the DRDO-Industry-Academia (DIA) Centre of Excellence at IIT (BHU) Varanasi under DRDO’s Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management. The facility, to be located at Innomet’s Hyderabad premises, will target nickel-based superalloys for aerospace, ferritic and austenitic steels for nuclear power systems, cobalt-based alloys for thermal coatings, and high-entropy alloys. The initiative aims to serve additive manufacturing (LPBF, DED, binder jetting), hot isostatic pressing, and gas turbine component production.

This partnership directly addresses a critical bottleneck in India’s AM supply chain: the near-total dependence on imported high-purity metal powders for aerospace and defense applications. The 100 kg batch scale is significant — most Indian lab-scale atomizers operate at 5–20 kg, while commercial production requires 100–500 kg runs to achieve cost parity with imports. By combining DMRL’s metallurgical expertise in superalloy development, IIT Hyderabad’s process modeling capabilities, and Innomet’s industrial manufacturing infrastructure, the project mirrors the Chinese localization arc (P2) but with a defense-driven, qualification-heavy approach. For Innomet, this moves them from a niche powder supplier into the aerospace qualification grind (P4), where embedded supply-chain positions take 5–10 years to establish but create durable switching costs. The facility also supports India’s broader NDAA-style policy push for indigenous critical materials under the DRDO umbrella.

For Innomet, execution now hinges on achieving consistent particle size distribution (15–53 µm for LPBF, 45–150 µm for DED) and oxygen content below 500 ppm for reactive alloys like nickel superalloys. The company must also secure aerospace material certifications (AMS, ASTM) within 18–24 months to convert pilot batches into qualified production. This is a capital-intensive, low-margin materials play where success is measured not by press releases but by repeat orders from HAL, GE Aerospace, and DRDO labs. The partnership gives Innomet a credible path to that outcome, but the qualification timeline will determine whether this remains a research project or becomes a commercial supply line.