Ambuja rejects Holcim`s stock option scheme - Mumbai, 8/21/08

Ambuja
Cements, the country's third largest cement-maker, has rejected
Holcim's stock option plan, saying its own existing scheme is better
than the one offered by the Swiss cement company. ACC, its sibling
under the umbrella of Holcim, had accepted a similar offer recently.

Holcim has close to 50 per cent stake in Ambuja Cements and ACC and
controls a fifth of the Indian cement market with a 42-million tonne
capacity, which is to be increased to 55 million tonnes.

"We have got the same option that was offered to ACC, but we
preferred our own stock option scheme as it is much better than
Holcim's. And we will continue with our scheme," said A L Kapur,
managing director, Ambuja Cements. The offer from Holcim is opened to
all its associate companies across the world where it has its
operations.

ACC had scrapped its employee stock option plan in 2005, following
objections from some shareholders and the then chairman of ACC had
stopped the scheme. Since ACC did not have any such scheme, the company
went ahead with the offer from Holcim.

Under the scheme, a part of the annual performance bonus of eligible
ACC executives gets converted into the Holcim stock at a fixed rate,
which is at a discount over the market price of the stock. However, the
shares of Holcim come with a lock-in period.

"The offer was not a new thing as it is open to all the companies of
Holcim worldwide. It was left to us to decide. We debated the issue and
found ours better and consequently informed Holcim," added Kapur.

"The Holcim scheme is limited to a few people. But, we, at Ambuja, have a scheme that is all inclusive," he said.

The Rs 5,800-crore cement-maker is embarking on an expansion plan to
take its capacity to 27 million tonnes in the next two years from the
current 19 million tonnes. The company is eyeing the southern market
through the sea route and hopes to raise its market share. It has two
port terminals to ship its cement from Gujarat to the South.