法国拉法基公司是世界上最大的水泥企业之一，拉法基印度高管表示：在未来的3到5年里,其超过8%的印度子公司正计划增加近一倍的收入。为此拉法基印度有限公司将收购其他公司和建立新工厂， 以满足目标。
拉法基印度董事总经理兼行政总裁Uday Khanna说：“在印度的增长将是一个新的组合能力和收购，我们将采取多产品战略 ， 以贴近客户。”
当拉法基宣布其在印度的扩张计划的同时，当地的联合政府也已宣布，将在未来5年累投资约500美元亿元，用以建立该国的基础设施。
把重点放在印度，中国，西亚和地中海地区是拉法基公司的战略，到2010年公司65%的利润将来自以上这些新兴市场。
截至今年第一季的3月底，拉法基公司的销售额在西欧下降了26 % ，北美19 ％ ，中欧和东欧的45 ％ ， 拉丁美洲11 ％ ，而西亚的销售增长58 ％ ，非洲13 ％和亚洲的19 ％ 。
Khanna表示“有机扩张的评审是缓慢的，平均需要18个月内获得批准，然后我们才能建立一个工厂，有时很难估计获批的具体时间。”
目前的计划，Khanna表示，对于拉法基水泥印度公司来说就是要提高能力，至少达到20万吨。到2012年，拉法基集团通过新的能力和可能的收购，生产能力将从目前的5.5吨提升到12吨。并且与此同时，拉法基印度的市场份额将会达到2.75 ％。
Grasim工业公司和UltraTech水泥有限公司的阿迪亚波拉集团现在占有印度40 ％的水泥市场。拉法基公司自己每年生产的水泥为200吨，这个数字与整个印度水泥工业的年生产量相同。
Khanna说：“我们拥有国际化的团队一直从事收购。”但是其又补充说道，对于收购世界第二大水泥生产商Holcim的有限公司的价钱来说，以可以支付收购控股在Gujarat Ambuja 水泥有限公司或GACL ，印度第三最大的水泥企业。并且卖家都会以这个数字为基准。
总部设在孟买的水泥行业分析师表示，拉法基印度已经没有别的选择 ，只能通过收购在提高增长。“并且指出 该公司的新的能力来源只有2012年 ， 因此它必须加速寻找收购的增长速度。”
事实上，拉法基是通过收购路线进入印度市场的。1998年，塔塔钢铁公司收购的1.8吨水泥业务Rs550亿卢比，和4年后采取这种行动取得了2.2吨植物雷蒙德有限公司Rs786亿卢比。
附英文版
Lafarge SA of France, the world’s largest cement company by volume, is planning to nearly double the revenue contribution of its Indian subsidiary to 8% over the next three-five years, said a senior executive of Lafarge India Ltd. The Indian outfit will acquire other firms and build new plants to meet the target.
“The growth in India will be a combination of fresh capacities and acquisitions, and we will follow a multi-product strategy to get closer to the customer,” said Uday Khanna, managing director and chief executive of Lafarge India.
The firm’s expansion plans come at a time when the Union government has announced it will invest about $500 billion (Rs24.7 trillion) to build the country’s infrastructure over the next five years.
The focus on India, China, West Asia and the Mediterranean region is part of Lafarge SA’s strategy to generate 65% of profits from emerging markets by 2010.
In the first quarter ended March, Lafarge SA’s sales from Western Europe fell 26%, North America 19%, Central and Eastern Europe 45% and Latin America 11%, while West Asia sales grew 58%, Africa 13% and Asia 19%.
“Organic expansion by definition is slow. It takes an average 18 months to get approvals before we can build a plant and sometimes it is difficult to estimate this time,” Khanna said. His acquisition plan for capacity addition also has a rider—“the presence of willing sellers”.
The immediate plan, Khanna said, is for Lafarge India to raise its cement capacity to at least 20 million tonnes (mt). By 2012, Lafarge will have 12 mt capacity, through fresh capacities and possible acquisitions, from the current level of 5.5 mt. At this, Lafarge India’s market share is about 2.75%.
Grasim Industries Ltd and UltraTech Cement Ltd of the Aditya Birla Group now account for 40% of the cement production in the country.
Lafarge SA alone makes 200 mt of cement annually, the same that the entire Indian cement industry produces.
“We have an internal team that is always looking at acquisitions,” said Khanna, but added that the price that Holcim Ltd, the world’s second largest cement producer, paid to acquire a controlling stake in Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd, or GACL, India’s third largest cement firm, has been high and that sellers see this number as a benchmark.
Lafarge India has no other option but to grow through acquisitions, said a cement industry analyst with a domestic brokerage, based in Mumbai. He did not want to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to media. “The company’s fresh capacity will come to stream only by 2012 and so it has to look for acquisitions to grow faster,” he added.
In fact, Lafarge’s entry into the Indian market was through the acquisition route. In 1998, it acquired Tata Steel Ltd’s 1.8 mt cement business for Rs550 crore, and four years later followed this up by acquiring a 2.2 mt plant from Raymond Ltd for Rs786 crore.
