Indian industry giant Tata in a revised proposal on April 30 offered Bangladesh various packages, including higher price for gas and stake for the government in its ventures, giving a July 31 deadline to sign an agreement for the US$ 3.0 billion investment.

The group offered gas price at US$ 3.1 per million British thermal unit (MMBTU) for its fertilizer factory, while $ 2.6 per MMBTU for steel plant at current international market price.

The Tata placed the revised offer to the government as it was asked to submit a revised one in February.

The group offered the price of gas for both fertilizer and steel by determining a floor price and ceiling price ranges from $2.0 up to $4. It initially proposed a floor price at $1.5 per MMBTU for a period of five to six years.

The Tata also offered establishing two coal-fired and gas-fired power plants.

The group wanted the government to give its decision by May 31 and if the decision is positive, it wanted an agreement on key terms within July 31 this year. The Tata wanted to sign the negotiations of contracts by August.

Alan Rosling, Executive Director of Tata Sons, submitted the revised proposal to the Board of Investment (BoI) Executive Chairman Mahmudur Rahman at latter's office.

"We have submitted the revised proposal with a genuine attempt to try to take in board... we think the deal we proposed is an extremely good one. This is a deal of the century for us and for Bangladesh jointly," Rosling said.

Later at press meet at the Pan Pacific Sonargoan Hotel in the evening, he said: "We want to send a signal to the other investors. We think a number of multinational companies will come to explore the country and take it more seriously following our investment."

The key negotiator from Indian industrial group said Tata's $3.0 billion investment in four projects -- fertilizer, steel, power and open-pit coal mine -- will help creating 24,000 of employment directly and indirectly, and generate billions of foreign exchange for Bangladesh with a positive impact on the Balance of Payment (BoP).

On gas security, the group demanded a guarantee up to the loan repayment period for its projects to be implemented with credit from the financial institutions.

The period for loan servicing would be not more than 10-14 years, Rosling said, adding: "We have planned to collect nearly $2.0 billion from various commercial institutions for projects."

The Tata also offered to set up the four projects at 90:10 joint venture with the government and pledged to go public as soon as the projects start operations.

He said the amount of IPO (Initial Public Offering) placement will depend on the depth of the market and market conditions.

"It could potentially change the perception of Bangladesh in the international market. Because, in this country, people still have reservations for reasons, which I think are wrong. That's why, we want to do something significant," said Rosling.

The group further offered to establish two tertiary 50 and 100-bed hospitals in the project areas, set up two training institutes for steel and fertilizer, and develop a township.

It also revised the proposal for establishing power plants. The group offered to set up a 250-300 MW coal-fired power plant and a 475 MW gas based power plant.

The group offered its surplus generating capacity in captive gas fired plant to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) grid as either base-load or perking capacity.

Rosling said multilateral agencies are extremely willing to finance the infrastructure development initiatives in Bangladesh. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) offered the government to finance gas pipeline and developing a railway, while the World Bank and International Finance Corporation also extended support, he added.

"We hope the government will consider it very positively ... These are really win-win proposals, which any government should accept with alacrity speed and grace," Rosling said.

The Tata team also met with Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and Communications Secretary, who is head of the government’s negotiation committee, with its revised proposal.

Saifur Rahman said: "This is an improved proposal compared to the previous one. We will take decision about Tata's proposal by counting the adjusted price of gas for both local and external market."

The Tata team members included Sukaran Singh, General Manager of the group, its Bangladesh Resident Director Manzer Hussain and Project Chief of Tata Steel in Bangladesh Indranil Sengupta.

Earlier, Tata had offered $1.20 per MCF (thousand cubic feet) gas without any guarantee period, while $1.50 per MCF for uninterrupted supplies for 20 years.

The Tata in October 2004 signed an expression of interest (EoI) with the government start four ventures here. The group in the revised proposal offered to establish a 2.4 million tons steel plant.