Following the announcement yesterday by Vicat that its new joint-venture project Sagar has started commercial production, local press have speculated that the France-based major is scouting for further growth opportunities in India.

Citing a company official, the Economic Times of India reported that Vicat is looking for more organic and inorganic growth in the country.

The company already has a controlling stake in Bharathi Cement and has a joint venture with Sagar Cements. The Vicat Sagar 2.8Mta Greenfield project started its first production last month and in the future the plant’s capacity will be increased to “follow the expected strong growth of the Indian market,” according to a statement by the company. Yesterday the Vicat Sagar venture informed the Bombay Stock Exhange that the new plant in Karnataka had commenced commercial production of cement.

The Vicat group now has a cement capacity of 7.75Mta of capacity, the company’s India marketing head M. Ravinder Reddy said.