The industry department in Himachal Pradesh (HP) has started conducting initial surveys for exploring the possibilities of setting up a cement plant in Sunni area of Shimla district. Sources in the department revealed that a multinational company has shown interest in starting a cement plant here and has even submitted and application to the government.

The government has already given permission for two cement plants in the area. Lafarge is to start up a plant at Alsindi in Mandi district, while the Harish Chand Group has been given permission to start a cement plant near Sundarnagar. ACC is already operating a plant at Salapar near Sundarnagar and Ambuja in Darlaghat. Besides this, India Cement would be starting a plant at Chaupal in Shimla district. Environmentalists fear that having big cement plants in a same area would prove disastrous for the local environment.