Lafarge eyes buyouts

Lafarge India Ltd, a subsidiary of French cement manufacturer Lafarge SA, is weighing options of setting up greenfield units or taking over existing units in the country for growth.

The Indian subsidiary, which has presence in the eastern part of the country only by virtue of acquiring Tata Steel's cement plant in Jamshedpur, would like to be a national player by establishing a strong market presence all over the country, chairman of Lafarge group, Paris, Bertrand Collomb, told reporters here.

He said the company's strategy for growth in developing countries like India was based on either setting up newer units or buying out existing ones. With an annual turnover of Rs 1500 crore, the Indian subsidiary was contributing to two to three per cent of Lafarge's worldwide revenues.

In the eastern region, the company had a market share of 25 per cent. It annual production capacity was five million tonne.

Besides cement, other core businesses of the company included concrete, roofing and gypsum, he added.

Lafarge is in a dialogue with banks and NGOs for promoting low-cost housing using brick and mortar.

Under its corporate social responsibility programme, the company had undertaken construction of affordable housing projects in semi-urban and urban slum areas, particularly in West Bengal, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

Asked about the size of business that the company was looking from this sector, chief executive officer of Lafarge India Martin Kriegner said it was vast.

Chief financial officer of Lafarge India Shivesh Sinha said the business model developed by the company was that of acting as a catalyst in promoting low-cost housing in the country.