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Tata to meet Bangla officials for projects

BS Corporate Bureau in Mumbai | August 26, 2004 10:11 IST

Tata group chairman Ratan Tata said on Wednesday that he would visit Bangladesh next month to discuss with government representatives the group's plan to invest $2 billion to set up steel, power and fertiliser plants in the country.

However, he declined to provide specifics of the investment saying nothing was finalised yet. "Its not proper to talk on the issue before the discussions with the Bangladesh government are over," he said, while talking to mediapersons at the listing ceremony of the shares of the group's information technology firm TCS Ltd on the National Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

The Bangladesh government had agreed to guarantee gas supply for 20 years for the Tata projects, which, if materialised, would be the largest foreign investment in the country.

The guarantee came after the Bangladesh government studied a proposed $2 billion investment by the Tata group. It is learnt that the group will set up an one-million tonne fertiliser factory, a 1,000 mw power plant and a 2.4 million tonne steel unit.

Merger of tech firms: Asked on the proposed merger of Tata group's information technology companies with TCS, Tata said it may be considered later.

"We will go for a merger only if it makes sense to TCS and other companies, and at present the group will concentrate on growing business in the right direction," he said.

Reacting to the over subscription of the TCS offer, he said that he was overwhelmed by the interest shown by individual investors. TCS managing director S Ramadorai said the company would look at an overseas listing at a later stage.

The company would also expand its presence in other countries, he added.

Commenting on the Indian economy, Tata said the country was on the growth path but expressed concern over rising prices. Referring to the price cut by Tata Steel on Sunday, which was immediately followed by other steel companies, he said the steel firms registered good profits and therefore enable to follow a 'moderate price" policy.

When asked whether the Centre forced the steel companies to reduce prices, Tata said: "Certainly there is no such pressure on us."


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