German ball-bearings manufacturer Schaeffler has again asked for state aid and said it will present a viable concept for the joint future of it and Continental (CONG.DE) after calls for aid appear to have been thwarted over the weekend.

Schaeffler is grappling with billions of euros in debt amassed through its acquisition of a 49.9-percent voting stake in tyre maker Continental.

Schaeffler's renewed request comes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday it was not the federal state's role to help Schaeffler for now and said the state would not be caught paying for speculative business practices.

"The talks with the federal government and state representatives are about securing financial aid for an interim period of time," Schaeffler said in a written statement on Sunday.

Schaeffler said that it has become clear that aid could only be provided if it presents a sustainable concept.

"This is to ensure that the interim aid will not burden the taxpayers," the company said.

"It is a matter of securing more than 220,000 jobs in both companies and tens of thousands of jobs at suppliers and allied businesses. And it is also a matter of ensuring that next-generation technologies remain in Germany in the long run and are further developed here," Schaeffler said.

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that Schaeffler had sounded out the possibility of a capital injection of up to 4 billion euros from the German government.

But Merkel appeared to have cut the request short over the weekend.

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