Lafarge Delivers Unique Products and Solutions for Building Better Cities in India

Lafarge India has unveiled the Group's new positioning to build better cities marking company's current presence in the Indian market. The new brand baseline 'Building Better Cities' demonstrates Lafarge's position as a company offering innovative products and construction solutions to all its customers and stakeholder.

Urbanization is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Over the next decade, cities will change substantially, as population growth is anticipated to occur almost exclusively in urban areas. By 2050, 70% of the world's population will be living in towns and cities, compared with just over 50% today, resulting in two billion more city-dwellers. Development at this unprecedented scale will be a major challenge for the whole construction industry, also in India, where it is expected that about 40% of the population to be living in cities by 2020.

"We want to play our part in the improvement of towns and cities, helping people to access better quality housing at a cost they can afford and better quality infrastructure, with a lesser impact on nature, thanks to innovative products and solutions to support our customer needs," said Martin Kriegner, Country CEO, Lafarge India.

Lafarge's position in contributing to better urban environments can be demonstrated in numerous ways:

- More housing in cities, promoting housing for all, in particular affordable housing. Lafarge India has introduced innovative products like Aadhar (a low cost binder for kutcha homes) and RMX concrete in bags for self built neighborhoods.

- More compact cities by playing a key role in the construction of vertical buildings which help reduce urban sprawl. Lafarge India has a range of high-strength concretes which are being used for iconic buildings like the Lodha World One Project in Mumbai.

- More durable cities through focusing on the strength and longevity of constructions and by taking full account of environmental concerns, particularly the energy efficiency of buildings and the reduction of CO2 emissions. Lafarge India has pioneered multiple product offers like Concreto, Duraguard and PSC in cement - empowering the consumer to choose as per his construction needs. These environment friendly products are designed to meet specific requirements of strong durable construction, protection from seepage and corrosion, cohesiveness in RCC (reinforced concrete) jobs and enhance aesthetics through decorative finishes.

- More connected cities and retro-fitting of infrastructure in cities by supporting the development of all infrastructures - roads, airports, stations, bridges, tunnels, sea links etc.

- More beautiful cities through encouraging the combination of innovation, performance and architectural expertise to create visually bold solutions, Lafarge India's range of pervious concrete Hydromedia and decorative concrete range Artevia, besides being aesthetic also support water conservation

Martin Kriegner added: "Our commitment towards Building better cities encompasses our overall ambition. Although our work in this area isn't new, we believe that by explicitly stating our purpose, we will be in a stronger position to work even more closely with our customers and stakeholders to the benefit of the living environments that surround us all. And it will further differentiate us from our competitors"

Innovation at the heart of the business

Innovation is at the heart of Lafarge's strategy. The Group dedicates more than €100 million to R&D every year and benefits from a unique research centre in France with 250 employees of over a dozen nationalities with 70 PhDs in total. Three Construction Development Labs have been launched in the last two years (in France, China and India) with plans for another 10 to be established by 2015 to help promote local innovation and assist in the local adaptation of innovative solutions.

Thanks to its innovative products and services encompassing all its businesses - Cement, Aggregates and Concrete - Lafarge India operates in the closest proximity to its markets and offers solutions that contribute to meeting the many challenges posed by the urbanization of the planet.

Source : Equity Bulls

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