Lafarge to invest $1 bln in India expansion -paper

MUMBAI, July 15 (Reuters) - French cement maker Lafarge (LAFP.PA) plans to invest $1 billion over five years to expand its cement capacity in India to about 20 million tonnes, the Business Standard reported on Tuesday citing sources.

Lafarge, which bought top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro's (LART.BO) concrete unit for $350 million in May, plans to build three plants with a capacity of 2.5 million tonnes each, the newspaper said.

Lafarge India officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

In 1999, the French firm had bought Tata Steel's (TISC.BO) cement business and two years later it acquired the cement units of textile firm Raymond India (RYMD.BO).

It is currently expanding its three plants in India to reach an annual capacity of 12 million tonnes, the paper said. (Reporting by Narayanan Somasundaram; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)