Madras Cements, the flagship enterprise of Chennai based Ramco Group, is holding talks with European giants Lafarge and Holcim to divest its cement grinding unit in West Bengal for roughly INR 350 crore.

Sources briefed on the matter said that PE giant KKR backed Dalmia Cements had evinced early interest but has dropped out of the deal making now.

Mr PR Venketrama Raja vice chairman of Ramco Group told TOI that "We have been approached by a number of cement manufacturers to sell the grinding unit. At present we are only exploring the offers made by these people. No decision has been taken as yet.”

A Lafarge spokesperson declined to comment, while Holcim could not be reached for response.

The INR 2,636 crore Madras Cements moves clinker (an intermediary product in cement manufacturing) from its existing cement plant at Jayanthipuram in Andhra Pradesh in bulk and grinds it with gypsum and bags them as cement to sell in the eastern markets. The unit located at Kolaghat in Purba Medinipur district in West Bengal was set up to feed cement from the surplus southern to eastern region.

(Sourced from ET)