A high-powered feasibility study committee, formed upon receipt of the proposal from Tata on June 29, at a meeting yesterday felt it is of no use to work and decide on an investment offer the future of which has become uncertain.

Following the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, the entire scenario has changed, the five-member committee headed by Industries Minister Motiur Rahman Nizami observed.

The other members of the study team are State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources AKM Mosharraf Hossain, State Minister for Power Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, Board of Investment Executive Chairman Mahmudur Rahman and Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui.

The meeting was told that the proposal has been kept in abeyance following the August-21 massacre and considering the subsequent hartals and announcement of a month-long opposition programme to unseat the government.

Affirming that the political unrest has made the investment 'chancy', Mosharraf Hossain said it made some top Tata principals including Group Chairman Ratan Tata to defer their visit to Dhaka from September 6, as was scheduled, to mid-October.

Asked if the government was certain about the Tata delegation's October visit, Hossain told The Daily Star that it all depends on the situation then on the political front.

"They are scared by the series of hartals," he noted.

The state minister also apprehends that the perturbation of such a heavyweight investor is sure to send negative signals to other potential investors who now would be more sceptical and cautious in investing in Bangladesh.

"But, if we have received investment from industrial majors like Tata, it would definitely have boosted the foreign investors' confidence," he underscored.

According to other meeting sources, in its initial proposal Tata has sought uninterrupted gas supply at a reasonable price for at least 20 years to set up three industrial units -- a power plant, a steel mill and a fertiliser factory.

The group asked for suitable land in one of the four districts -- Ishwardi, Sirajganj, Jessore and Khulna -- to build a 1000-megawatt power plant and a steel mill with an annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes of steel.

Its fertiliser factory with a planned annual production capacity of one million tonne Tata wants to set up in Chittagong.

The group proposes to export steel and power to India. In case of fertiliser, it plans to export only after meeting the domestic demand.

Meeting sources said the group's requirements are acceptable, as Bangladesh has similar agreements with foreign companies like AES Meghnaghat.

They also said, although Tata did not quote any price for the continuous gas supply, there are standard agreements with companies like Kafco, where there are provisions for compensation in case the seller or the buyer fails to supply or consume gas as stipulated in the deed.