Lafarge In Press
LAFARGE SIGNS MS DHONI AS ITS BRAND AMBASSADOR
Press release |
Lafarge signs MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador: Launches new Concreto, its premium cement brand
Kolkata June 21, 2008: Lafarge, the world’s leading cement manufacturer, today announced its association with ace cricketer and India Captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in line with its strategy to be a premium cement player in India. MS Dhoni would initially appear in the campaign of New Concreto – Lafarge India’s premium cement brand.
“With India’s booming economic growth, many aspiring home owners can now own their dream homes with ease. They strive and put the best of everything together to achieve that perfect abode. To ensure that they receive the best in strength and design, Lafarge India today launched New Concreto”, said Mr Uday Khanna, CEO Lafarge India Pvt Ltd. “Our association with MS Dhoni stems from the mutual values of leadership and excellence that is so synonymous with MS Dhoni as it is with Lafarge”, he added, commenting on the association with MS Dhoni.
The newly launched Concreto offers a variety of benefits to homeowners across India. It is best in strength and finishing and it comes with new international tamper resistant packaging that allows for easier stacking and handling, ensuring that homebuilders get factory fresh material. About Concreto: Lafarge Concreto is a premium cement of international standards, formulated and developed with assistance from the Lafarge Research & Development Centre in France. Along with superior strength and enhanced durability, Lafarge Concreto also offers many aesthetic benefits and adds value to homebuilding by also becoming an important factor in its decor. With the growing economic affluence and improvement in buying power, homebuilders today look for elegance in the design of the buildings, apart from the basic structure to be strong and durable. There are many options for this, but the main challenge is to find a practical solution that addresses their lifestyle needs and aspirations. Highly versatile, Concreto cement is suitable for both structural and decorative usages. For decorative finishes, Concreto is a more practical option compared to white cement. Concreto offers the following benefits to homebuilders:
- Best in strength
- Best in finishing – smoother finishes which makes houses that are unique and noticeable
- Tamper resistant packaging
Notes to editors Lafarge in India Lafarge entered the Indian market in 1999, through its cement business, with the acquisition of Tata Steel’s cement activity. This acquisition was followed by the purchase of the Raymond Cement facility in 2001. Lafarge currently has three cement plants in India: two plants in the state of Chhattisgarh and a grinding plant in Jharkhand. Lafarge’s total cement production capacity in the Indian market currently stands at around 5.5 million tons and the Group has launched an ambitious program to more than double its capacity in the next five years. Operations started at Lafarge’s first Greenfield ready-mix concrete plant in April 2008 and Lafarge today has become the market leader in the RMC business with 66 additional plants, given its recent acquisition of L&T Concrete. The Group is also building a plasterboard plant near New Delhi, Rajasthan, with an annual capacity of around 10 million m². Lafarge is the world leader in building materials, with top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: Cement, Aggregates & Concrete and Gypsum. With 90,000 employees in 76 countries, Lafarge posted sales of Euros 17.6 billion and net income of Euros 1.9 billion in 2007. Lafarge is the only company in the construction materials sector to be listed in the 2008 ‘100 Global Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’. Lafarge has been committed to sustainable development for many years, pursuing a strategy that combines industrial know-how with performance, value creation, respect for employees and local cultures, environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources and energy. To make advances in building materials, Lafarge places the customer at the heart of its concerns. It offers the construction industry and the general public innovative solutions bringing greater safety, comfort and quality to their everyday surroundings. Additional information is available on the web site at www.lafarge.com.
For further information, please contact: Aruna Balkrishna Singh Kirti Sundaram Genesis Burson-Marsteller Lafarge IndiaMobile: 9820866909 Tel: 91 022 6630 6510aruna.singh@bm.com kirti.sundram@in.lafarge.com |
23rd June'2008
