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JAMSHEDPUR (India), Sept 17: India's Tata Group said Thursday that the conglomerate had not given up its $3.0 billion investment plan in Bangladesh, but any unusual delay in taking a decision on it by the neighbour might change the equation.
"We have not yet given up our investment plan in Bangladesh," said Tata Steel Deputy Managing Director T. Mukherjee while talking to a group of Bangladeshi newsmen at the Tata Steel plant here.
Expressing his disappointment over such an unprecedented delay, Mukherjee sought a quick decision from the Bangladesh authority on its investment proposal.
"Bangladesh government has taken so much time to respond to the investment proposal … It is not good for both the sides," Mukherjee said.
He further said: "We consider our Bangladesh project a better option, but, at the same time, we cannot wait for so long as it is absolutely a business decision," he told the visiting journalists.
Bangladesh Steel Project Chief Indronil Sengupta and its Corporate Communications Chief Sanjay Choudhury, among other senior officials, were present on the occasion.
The India's industrial giant - Tata Group - placed its revised investment proposal to the government of Bangladesh on April 30 last for setting up a steel plant, a fertiliser factory, a power unit and a coal mining project in Bangladesh.
Responding to a query, Mukherjee said if any better opportunity comes, Tata would obviously invest its money there.
"After the signing of Expression of Interest (EOI) in Bangladesh in October 2004, Tata has also made some investments including Natsteel -- a 2.0 million-tonne annual capacity steel plant in Singapore -- and another 1.7 million-tonne Millennium Steel plant in Thailand," Mukherjee said.
Tata Steel has also initiated process to enhance the annual production capacity of its existing unit in Jamshedpur by 1.8 million tonnes within the next couple of years.
Currently, the Rs. 500-billion steel plant - the first steel factory in India under private sector -- is producing some 5.0 million tonnes of wide-ranging steel products annually.
Besides, the company plans to establish three greenfield facilities in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand states of India, with an aggregated capacity of 23 million tonnes a year, Tata Steel company sources said.
Apart from these, Tata Steel also plans to set up a 3.2 million-tonne capacity steel plant in Iran, they mentioned.
Those greenfield projects and other strategic overseas investment opportunities see Tata Steel making a total estimated investment of Rs. 700 billion in the next decade, according to the company sources.
Sanjay Choudhury also informed the visiting mediamen that the Tata Steel has already planned to raise its total production capacity to 30 million tonnes annually by the year 2015, with giving special focus on branded products.
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