Lafarge, the world leader in building materials, has announced the launch of the Lafarge Invention Awards 2011, a competition to reward innovative projects in India related to building materials and contributing to sustainable construction. The competition will target entrepreneurs or new companies, engineering consultants, architects, researchers and academics in India, who will have from September 1st until November 30, 2011 to submit their entries, via a secure website www.lafarge-inventionawards.com.

Innovation is a strategic priority for Lafarge, which dedicates 150 million euros per year to technology and innovation in products, systems and industrial processes. With an industrial presence in India spanning more than 10 years, Lafarge is today seeking to promote innovation for sustainable construction in India and to strengthen its ties with materials science and construction experts across the country. The fast pace of Indian economic and demographic growth is generating immense needs for new infrastructure and housing, which must be met through new, innovative approaches to construction that take into account social, economic and environmental imperatives.

Announcing the launch of the competition, Pascal Casanova, Director of Research and Development at Lafarge, said:

"Developing solutions to meet the specific needs of the Indian market requires close partnership with local actors in the construction chain. This is why we recently opened a joint laboratory with IIT Madras to push research on concrete quality and durability. We are today seeking to strengthen our collaboration with Indian construction innovators, through the Lafarge Invention Awards 2011."

The Lafarge Invention Awards aim to reward innovative projects related to Lafarge building materials - aggregates, cement, concrete and gypsum - and that contribute to sustainable construction. Projects submitted should be based on an invention less than 5 years old. They should involve a new product, industrial process, construction method or service and should have reached at least the prototype phase, ideally demonstrated in a real construction project. The competition was first launched in 2010, focusing on the European market for its first edition.

The three winning projects from the Lafarge Invention Awards 2011 will be selected in March 2012, by a panel of Lafarge executives and renowned experts, with prize winners receiving respectively 1,000,000 INR, 500,000 INR, and 250,000 INR.

For further information on the Lafarge Invention Awards: