Lafarge has bid for a Rs.6-billion ($120m) cement plant in Himachal Pradesh. Lafarge, which has submitted a proposal to set up a two-million-tonne plant by exploiting the limestone deposits in the Chopal region, some 100 km from the works. Among the other bidders are Associated Cement Company, Ambuja Cement, JK Cement, Grasim and Madras Cement. According to the state geological department, there are around 900Mt of superior grade limestone deposits in Chopal for producing high quality cement. The Chopal mines have almost 50 per cent calcium oxide content.