Tata Group dumps $3 billion Bangladesh investment plan

05 August 2008

Mumbai: The Tata Group, frustrated by the lackadaisical approach of the Bangladesh government, finally decided to scrap its $3 billion investment plans that included the setting up of a steel mill and power plant in that country.

''The (Bangladesh) government will not be in a position, in the foreseeable future, to grant the projects the natural gas commitment they would require,'' Tata Group said in a statement here.

Tatas said that it has communicated its decision to Bangladesh government and the Board of Investment.

The group, which waited four years trying to get requisite infrastructure support in vain, clarified that it would continue to develop its other interests in Bangladesh.

The Tata Group had initially proposed to invest $2 billion in Bangladesh in 2004 and had struck a provisional 15-year gas and coal supply agreement with the government.

The group formally submitted a $2.5 billion investment plan in April 2005 and then revised it to around $3 billion to set up a 1,000 MW power plant, a steel mill and a fertiliser unit.