L&T to build plant for Lafarge unit

Larsen & Toubro, a cement and engineering conglomerate, said on Monday it had received a $103 million order from a unit of French building materials giant Lafarge to construct a cement plant in northern Bangladesh.

Larsen said in a statement it would build the 1.2 million tonnes a year plant in Chhatak for Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd, a joint venture between Lafarge and Spanish firm Cementos Molins.

The Indian company said it expected the plant -- which will make cement using limestone imported from the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya -- to be ready by October 2005.

Bangladesh has 27 cement plants producing about five million tonnes a year for building materials, against annual demand of six million tonnes.

Larsen & Toubro's shares ended up 6.3 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange before the announcement at Rs 229.80. The main index rose 1.03 per cent.