In the latest development, Swiss-based Holcim will be merging with French cement and concrete giant Lafarge. This amalgamation will make the Holcim-Lafarge entity the largest cement manufacturer in India and also in the world. The so-formed $60 billion company will surpass UltraTech in terms of capacity to become the largest cement manufacturer in India. Earlier, UltraTech-with Jaypee Cement´s acquisition of 4.8 mt plant-was the largest cement manufacturer – with a total capacity of 59 mt. The merger will add 8 mt capacity of Lafarge to the 57 mt capacity of Holcim, making it a 65 mt capacity company. Holcim also has plans to boost its capacity to 73 mt by the end of next year. Holcim-Lafarge merger will account for around 19 per cent of installed capacity in India. Whereas, UltraTech accounts for 16 per cent of installed capacity in India.

Holcim has significant stakes in Ambuja Cements and 50 per cent stake in ACC. While speaking with shareholders at Ambuja Cements´ 78th annual general meeting, NS Sekhsaria, Co-Founder and Chairman, clarified that the brand ACC will remain intact and there is no question of ACC brand name changing to Lafarge. ´It-´s a merger of equals and the process will take about 16-18 months to complete,´ he added.

Speaking about the company´s performance, Sekhsaria said that bottomline was affected by sluggish economic environment last year. However, he expects the worse is now behind and the company will be back on growth path this year.