Puneet Dalmia-led Dalmia Bharat Ltd, India’s fourth-largest cement maker, has succeeded, in its third attempt, in acquiring cement assets of bankrupt Jaiprakash Associates Ltd from the Adani Group in a ₹2,850 crore deal.
The acquisition will help Dalmia Bharat deepen its presence in central India and increase cement capacity by nearly 10%, or 5.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
The acquisition will be undertaken through Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd (DCBL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat, and is expected to be completed within two weeks, the company announced on Friday.
Dalmia will acquire JAL's plants at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh and Churk, Chunar and Sadwa in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from cement units, the deal includes 99 megawatts of thermal power capacity and railway sidings at Rewa and Chunar.
“Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd has executed a business transfer agreement with Jaiprakash Associates (which has been acquired by Adani Group under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) and Adani Infra (India) Ltd on 21 May, 2026, for the acquisition of the cement undertaking comprising plants… at an enterprise value of ₹2,850 crore,” the company said in a statement.
Third-time lucky
This marks Dalmia Bharat’s third attempt to acquire the cement assets.
Its first deal, announced in December 2022, collapsed after Jaiprakash Associates entered bankruptcy proceedings. Valued at ₹5,666 crore, the transaction was then touted as one of the largest deals in India’s cement sector and involved 9.4mtpa of capacity.
Dalmia later rebid for the assets under the insolvency process but lost out to the Adani Group. In 2025, Adani acquired the debt-ridden company under a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)-approved resolution plan worth ₹14,535 crore, beating rival bidders including Vedanta and Dalmia.
“Post approval of the resolution plan of the Adani Group with respect to Jaiprakash Associates, Dalmia Bharat (had) requested that the earlier agreement (in 2022) should be considered with a view to settling all pending disputes,” the company said.
“This serves as a great strategic fit for Dalmia. It helps us move forward in our journey to be a pan-India player and provide a strong head start to serve the high-potential markets in the Central region,” Puneet Dalmia, chief executive of Dalmia Bharat Ltd, said.
“I am optimistic that the expansion potential of these assets, along with close proximity to Dalmia’s captive mines, will help us create a capacity hub for the future,” he added.
For Dalmia, the deal appears attractively priced, according to analysts.
“At roughly $67/tonne, this is one of the best deals in the sector and a good buy. None of the previous deals in the sector has been in this range. Even at $90/tonne valuation, the assets on offer were small regional players in South India with limited capacities. So yes, this is one of the best deals at present in terms of valuation,” said Manish Valecha, co-head of research at brokerage firm Anand Rathi.
Capacity boost
With the acquisition, Dalmia Bharat’s cement capacity will increase to 54.7mtpa from 49.5mtpa at the end of 2025-26. Along with ongoing expansion projects at Belgaum, Pune and Kadapa, the company expects to reach 66.7mtpa by December 2027.
India’s installed cement capacity currently stands at 720mtpa, according to BigMint data. UltraTech Cement Ltd remains the largest player with 200mtpa capacity, followed by Adani Cement—including Ambuja, ACC and other brands—at 109mtpa. Shree Cement has 65.8mtpa capacity.
The acquisition comes at a time when several large cement makers are moderating expansion amid rising costs and slowing demand. Companies such as Shree Cement and Ambuja have either slowed capex or are considering doing so due to the impact of the West Asia war, which has raised fuel, packaging and transportation costs.
Dalmia Bharat had also flagged war-related cost pressures during its April post-results investor call.
For 2025-26, Dalmia Bharat reported a 65% rise in net profit to ₹1,158 crore, aided by better realizations and moderate cost increases. Revenue from operations rose about 6% to ₹14,804 crore, though volume growth remained muted at 2%, signalling continuing demand pressure and price-led revenue growth.