The Tata Group Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata, visited Bangladesh on 12 October 2004 in connection with the group's plan of investing $2 billion in that country.

The group has drawn the following investment plan:

• Power (1,000 MW, $700 million)
• Fertilisers (1 million tpa, $600 million)
• Steel (2.4 million tpa, $700 million)

The three projects will require gas supplies of 600 million cubic feet per day (approx 16 mmscmd) that the Bangladesh government has guaranteed to supply for a 20-year period.

The format agreement was expected to be signed in the evening of 12 October 2004, no news of which is currently available.

The investment plans of Bangladesh got delayed by a few months (there were even reports about the Tatas withdrawing the proposal) due to political instability in that country. The Tata group was expected to finalize the plan in early September 2004.

Ref: tatabgldesh