The chairman of Tata Group, Ratan N Tata, visited Dhaka on Wednesday to sign a delayed deal for a planned $2 billion investment in Bangladesh — the biggest single investment in the country. Mr Tata said Bangladesh — despite its poverty, bouts of political turmoil and natural disasters — offered good potential. “We are here to invest in Bangladesh where we see opportunities for doing business,” he told reporters after a meeting with members of the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). 

“Last year we selected a number of countries to invest (in) ... and Bangladesh is one of them,” Mr Tata said. He was due to sign the agreement with the Bangladesh government on Wednesday evening following a meeting with finance minister M Saifur Rahman, officials said. The deal was to have been finalised in September but was delayed after a grenade attack at an opposition political rally in Dhaka that killed 20 people and sparked outbreaks of violence. Tata plans to build a power plant, steel mill and fertilizer factory as part of the $2 billion investment package. 

Tata said last month he expected details of the investment to fall into place after his visit. “If all things are a go, I would imagine we could break ground in the current year if gas prices are set, location is set and approvals are there,” he said then. Under the planned deal, Bangladesh has agreed in principle to guarantee a 20-year supply of natural gas for the Tata projects: a 1,000 megawatt power plant with $700 million investment, a 1 million-tonne per-year fertiliser plant with $600 million investment and a 2.4 million-tonne steel mill with $700 million investment. To run all three plants, Tata would require up to 600 million cubic feet of gas per day.