Birla Group chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla, told his firm's annual general meeting that its UltraTech Cement subsidiary should complete its acquisition of Jaypee Cement within the next 12 months, the Economic Times reports.

The deal, which will see UltraTech acquire cement production capacity of 21.2Mta, was agreed earlier this month, despite efforts from Jaypee’s creditors that saw them convert debt into equity.

On completion, UltraTech – already India’s largest producer – will control assets amounting to 91.1Mta of production capacity.