Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd and Sagar Cements have formally submitted offers to acquire Andhra Cements, according to Business Standard. Andhra Cements, which reportedly owes INR9700m (US$117.9m) to its lenders, was acquired by Jaypee Group in 2012 but has failed to report any sales for the last two years, or repay its debts. Data from Capitaline show that net sales by the company have fallen from INR4663m in FY18 to zero in FY22.

Andhra Cements currently has two cement plants with a combined production capacity of 2.6Mta, which historically have served the markets of Andhra, Telengana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Karnataka.

For Dalmia, the move would boost its cement capacity to over 38Mta. In June this year, the company announced plans to expand its capacity to around 48Mta by FY24 and over 110Mta by 2030 as part of an INR90,000m capex spending spree. Sagar Cements, meanwhile, has an existing production capacity of 8.25Mta across four states, which it hopes to increase to 10Mta by FY24/25.