Lafarge India Pvt Ltd may acquire a majority stake in Meghalaya-based Cement Manufacturing Company Ltd (CMCL), which sells cement under 'Star Cement' brand.

CMCL, which is a 70.48% subsidiary of Century Plyboards India Ltd, has a capacity of 1.2 MT in Meghalaya. Company is also adding another 3.2 MT grinding capacity in Assam and Bihar. Once completed, this is expected to take up the total capacity to 4.4 mt by the end of 2012.

Transaction Reference: Business Standard

CMCL is promoted by Banwari Lal Agarwal, Hari Prasad Agarwal, Sanjay Agarwal, and Sajjan Bhajanka, and commenced operations in December 2004.

Lafarge entered India via acquisitions buying the cement business of Tata Steel. It was followed by the purchase of the Raymond Cement facility in 2001. In 2008, it acquired L&T's Ready-mix Concrete business.

Lafarge India, a subsidiary of French cement firm Lafarge, currently has a 3 MT clinker and a 6.55 MT cement capacity from its four cement plants in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Lafarge is also present locally in its other businesses like aggregates and concrete and gypsum plasterboard.

Last week, Supreme Court approved Lafarge's plans for limestone mining in Meghalaya.

Lafarge started commercially operating a 100-hectare limestone mine in October 2006 at Phlangkaruh, Nongtrai, East Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya. It sent the limestone on a conveyor belt as raw material for its 2 MTPA capacity and $255 Mn Lafarge Surma Cement project at Chhatak in Bangladesh.

The matter reached the Supreme Court when a group of 21 tribal activists under the banner of the Shella Action Committee filed a petition alleging that Lafarge was mining on forest land, and did not have the required clearances. In February last year, the court stayed Lafarge's mining operations.

Last year, Mexico's Cemex was looking to buy stake in Hyderabad-based Penna Cements, but no development has been made yet, while French cement maker Vicat bought 51% in Hyderabad's Bharathi Cement.

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