French cement specialist
Lafarge says that it strengthens the group's product development capabilities and will design building solutions and systems adapted to the needs of the ever moving Indian market.
India showcases considerable housing and infrastructure needs, and could become the world's third largest construction market by 2018. The CDL should allow Lafarge to seize even better such opportunities.
“With the CDL in Mumbai, Lafarge is looking to position its building solutions as answers for the future in India. The CDL should also bring innovation closer to the market by developing cement and concrete solutions and building systems adapted to the specificities of construction in India,” says Lionel Bourbon, CDL director.
The group has existing units in L'Isle-d'Abeau near Lyon, France, and in Chongqing, China, and two more could open in 2012 in Latin America and Africa.
The laboratories in L'Isle-d'Abeau and Chongqing have worked together on permeable concrete that lets water drain out (now on sale in France) and a coating to reinforce it.
Lafarge stresses that the group's R&D laboratories outside France simply adapt products to their local markets, leaving primary R&D in France.
