BENGALURU -- Two of India's richest men are locked in a battle for cement supremacy as they snap up rivals to corner a soaring market fueled by a homegrown infrastructure boom.
The latest chapter in what is being dubbed as a clash of the titans saw billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla's market-leading Ultra Tech pay $697 million since June for a 56% stake in India Cements, which traces its beginnings to 1946, when India was still a British colony. That followed a $641 million buyout of Kesoram Industries' cement business in November.
