"Lafarge India is committed to growing in the domestic market in India and we will look at value added organic and inorganic opportunities that offer us a strategic fit," a company spokesperson told local press.
The company is now understood to have initiated talks with Meghalaya-based "Star Cement" for buying a majority stake and also with Chennai-headquartered Madras Cements’ for its grinding unit in West Bengal.
The Lafarge spokesperson, however, declined to comment, stating: " We do not comment on market speculation".
An analyst tracking the cement sector said that Lafarge is in fact carrying out due diligence to acquire a majority stake in Star Cement, a brand promoted by Cement Manufacturing Company (CMCL).
Century Plywoods holds over 70% stake in CMCL, a leading cement player with 1.2Mt capacity in Meghalaya, the state where Lafarge recently gets the Supreme Court nod for carrying out limestone mining.
