Dalmia Bharat, Shree Cements in race for LafargeHolcim's Sri Lankan operations.

A diverse set of domestic cement majors like Dalmia Bharat, Shree Cements along with South-based Ramco are in hot pursuit of LafargeHolcim's Sri Lankan operations that the global cement major is divesting as part of a global portfolio realignment.

These players have been shortlisted after an initial round of screening and are competing with local Sri Lankan, Chinese and Thai cementmakers and private equity players like Baring Asia as the race to acquire the largest and sole integrated cement operations in the island nation gathers momentum, said multiple source aware of the development.

Holcim makes cement straight from domestic limestone, a grinding plant that uses imported clinker, and a bagging plant that uses foreign-made cement. The Swiss group first took over a state-run cement factory in Puttalam in the West Coast of Sri Lanka from a Pakistani firm, which bought it during a privatisation drive over two decades ago.

ET