February 18, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 29, 1428

DHAKA, Feb 17: India's powerful Tata Group said on Saturday it wanted to restart talks with Bangladesh's government on a $3 billion plan to build a slew of industrial projects in the impoverished nation.

The group suspended its proposal to construct a power plant, steel mill and fertiliser factory as well as to develop coal mining last July after the previous government halted talks until after national elections.

The polls, originally set for January, have since been postponed amid charges of vote-rigging and widespread political unrest.

“I met the foreign ministry adviser early this week and discussed how we could take the proposals forward,” Tata's Bangladesh representative Syed Manzer Hossain told AFP.

“Our proposals remain the same and we're waiting for a response from the government to take it forward and restart negotiations,” added the official, who also met with the adviser in charge of the energy ministry this month.

The plan by Tata, one of India's top industrial houses, would be the biggest single foreign investment in the South Asian nation.

The new military-backed caretaker government has said it will take up all necessary projects to promote long-term economic growth.

Earlier this month, the government awarded India's state-run power producer Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd a nearly $160m power generation deal.“They are extremely appreciative as far as our proposals are concerned.

The BNP government had pledged to make a decision on the Tata project by June last year. But after two years of negotiations, it halted the deal, saying political sensitivities just ahead of the polls would make it difficult for the government to make a decision.

Anti-Indian sentiment is widespread among Bangladesh voters and political parties traditionally fear being seen courting the country's powerful neighbour.

Many Bangladeshis believe India seeks to bully its smaller neighbour, while relations are also sometimes strained by border skirmishes and tit-for-tat claims the other side is harbouring criminals and rebels.

After the Tata group suspended its investment plan, the Mumbai-based company said it was “extremely disappointed and frustrated” and that it had “thought the projects were good for the country's economy.

”Tata's investment proposal includes setting up a 2.4-million ton steel plant, a one-million ton fertiliser plant, two 500-megwatt gas-fired power plants and the development of an open-pit coal mine.

The company had offered the Bangladesh government a 10-per cent equity stake in all the projects and to list them on local bourses if it approved the plan by the June deadline. —AFP