Lafarge India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of the Lafarge Group, plans to invest Rs.7bn ($156m) to raise the cement production capacity of its Chhattisgarh unit from 1.5Mta to 3.5Mta.

‘Lafarge is keen to invest immediately for the expansion project at its Sonadih Cement Plant in Raipur district,’ state Finance Minister Amar Agrawal told IANS.

He added that the state government and the company would sign within a fortnight a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the expansion plan.

Agrawal said the government would provide all support to Lafarge for its expansion in Chhattisgarh with the latest technologies because it would create more jobs in the state.

Lafarge, which commenced operations in India in 1999 by acquiring Tisco’s cement unit, has a total production capacity of 5Mta in the country from its three plants based in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.