Binani Industries, the moment it opened for trade, got locked at the 5% UC at Rs.145.95, which is just a tad away from its 52-week high of Rs.149.40.

The reason? The ‘Midas Touch.’ There is unconfirmed news that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and D-Mart owner, Ramesh Damani have teamed up to bid for Binani Cement.

This comes a surprise because it has further intensified the already heated up completion. Everyone seems to be bidding – Ultratech, Heidelberg, JSW Cement, Ramco Cements, Dalmia Bharat

Yesterday was the last day of bidding for the beleaguered cement unit.

Binani has secured and unsecured debt to the tune of around Rs 4,500 crore. Despite the debt, Binani is an asset as it has a production capacity of close to 11 million tonnes (mt), of which nearly 6 mt is in India. Binani also has a grinding unit in Dubai and a plant in China.