After the fourth and final round of negotiations that concluded on February 8 without any concrete decision, the government asked Tata to submit a revised package proposal on gas pricing within two weeks. The deadline expired on February 22.

"We did not wrap up. Most of our management officials are busy as the March is the closing month of fiscal year in India," a Tata official in Bangladesh told the news agency.

"We will place the revised offer to the government within this month," he said.

At the negotiations, Tata reportedly offered $1 per thousand cubic feet (mcf) of gas without any guarantee while $1.50 per mcf for uninterrupted supplies over 20 years, sources said.

The Tata official, however, denied the reports of offering $1 per mcf of gas for its projects.

The government, however, reportedly demanded more than $2 per mcf without supplying security. With security, the asking price was $3.5 per mcf of gas, the sources said.

Tata in October 2004 signed an expression of interest (EoI) with the government. The Group proposed four ventures with an estimated investment worth nearly $3 billion.

The company proposed establishing a 2.4 million tonne steel plant either at Ishwardi in Pabna or at Bheramara in Kushtia that requires about 2,000 acres of land, including residential quarters. The costs involved in the proposed factory were expected to require $1.2 billion.

A one million tonne urea factory with an estimated investment of $ 600 million was also proposed. The Group proposed the site at Banshkhali in Chittagong.

Tata proposed setting up a 500MW coal-fired power station at the Barapukuria coalmine, and an open pit coalmine. The area for the two projects was expected to be nearly 6000 acres in the mine area. The projects costs were estimated at about $600 million for power plant and about $500 million for coalmine.