Mumbai, July 20 -- Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Ltd's strategy to reduce dependence on eastern India by expanding in the North and West is beginning to take shape, with it now looking to deepen its presence in Gujarat after the acquisition of Vadraj Cement, while keeping an entry into South India off its immediate agenda.

The country's fifth-largest cement maker sells about 1.5 million tonnes of cement annually in Gujarat, despite having no manufacturing presence in the state until the acquisition, managing director Jayakumar Krishnaswamy told Mint in an interview.

It expects to increase this to a two-million-tonne annualized sales rate by the end of the current fiscal year and add about one million tonnes of sales every year thereafter, taking ...