From 'tata' to 'bye-bye'?

Natural gas is the crux of the issue, since Tata proposes to produce thin sheets. Over 85 percent of this has to be exported, using our scarce natural gas at cheap price to process imported Indian iron ore! Nobody seems to bother about the wrong product mix. In the technical sub committee I asked Tata why they did not plan to produce longs (billets), which can be re-rolled in Bangladesh? If it was so Tata's planned output of 3 million tons should be totally consumed locally in around ten years after plant operation (say 2018). Tata's reply, and it is officially recorded in the minutes (if it has not since been doctored) is that the GOB representative proposed sheet production on which basis the project was drawn up.

The real culprit is this person or persons who, without any awareness of steel demands, had proposed that Tata manufacture flats (thin sheets) with cheap gas from Bangladesh for export, in fact subsidising Tata's export income. This is the real crux of the issue, which seems to have been missed by many, deliberately or out of ignorance. An ill motivated, or ill-conceived idea is now unfortunately mired in confusion. Will the authorities identify the culprit of this wrong product mix concept?