High Court disposes of LafargeHolcim-industries ministry legal battle
The High Court has disposed of the legal battle between LafargeHolcim Bangladesh and the industries ministry as the government allowed the company to run its business of crushing and selling aggregates derived from limestones coming from its mines in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya.
In September 2021, the ministry had earlier asked LafargeHolcim to stop the aggregates business as its inquiry committee had found the company crushing aggregates at an unapproved facility in Chhatak, Sunamganj.
The ministry launched its investigation based on complaints from local aggregates crushers and merchants arguing that LafargeHolcim was doing this business with an unfair advantage in taxes and duties.
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In these circumstances, the company had filed a petition with the High Court against the ministry's order.
While the legal battle going on, the ministry issued a letter on 27 March to the multinational cement manufacturer, allowing it to produce and sell aggregates in the open market.
According to the letter, the permission will remain valid until the government finalises a policy on producing aggregates by crushing limestone.
After that, the company will need fresh permission under the policy, it added.
LafargeHolcim began crushing and selling aggregates in January 2021, and its profits began to soar with high margins in the construction commodity.
Analysts earlier told The Business Standard that the aggregates business was contributing to around one-fifth of LafargeHolcim's revenue and making up at least one-third of its profits for the first nine months of 2021.
In 2021, the cement maker's sales jumped by 27% year-on-year to Tk2,053 crore and the profit by 64% to Tk388 crore thanks to its aggregates business.
Riding on this growth, it had paid a 25% cash dividend for 2021, the highest since its inception in Bangladesh.
On Thursday, its shares closed at Tk78.90 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), which was slightly lower than the previous session.
