01The stages
Every developer’s guide, from the IFC’s guide to utility-scale solar onwards, describes the same sequence.[1] In Bangladesh each stage has its own offices and documents.
| Stage | What it produces | Main counterparts |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-feasibility | Screened sites, a route to market, first numbers | Grid company, land offices |
| Site and land | Land control, survey, NOCs | Land offices, local administration |
| Feasibility | The technical, financial and regulatory case | Consultants, lenders |
| Approvals | Licences and clearances | Power Division, BPDB, BERC, DoE, BIDA |
| Contracts | PPA or MPPA, grid agreements, EPC contract | BPDB or buyers, PGCB, EPC contractor |
| Financing | Financial close | Banks, Bangladesh Bank, BIDA |
| Construction | Commissioning and COD | EPC contractor, grid company |
02The approvals that matter
Generation licence
Under the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Act 2003, generating electricity for sale needs a licence from BERC.[2]
Environmental clearance
The Environment Conservation Rules 2023 classify projects by risk. Large power plants are in the Red category, which needs a site clearance, an environmental impact assessment and then an Environmental Clearance Certificate from the Department of Environment.[3]
Foreign investment and borrowing
Foreign investors register with the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA). Foreign loans have gone through a BIDA scrutiny committee chaired by the Bangladesh Bank governor.[4] Since September 2026, BIDA-registered companies no longer need a separate Bangladesh Bank approval for medium and long-term foreign borrowing.[5]
Tax incentives
Renewable projects that reach commercial operation between July 2025 and June 2030 can claim a full income tax exemption for ten years, then 50 percent for three years and 25 percent for two, with a no-objection certificate from the Power Division.[6]
03Where the time goes
The official picture and the real one differ. According to a chamber of foreign investors, investors deal with 23 agencies; approvals officially meant to take 76 days often take six to twelve months, and a land title transfer can take 260 days.[7]
Payment is the risk that remains after construction. Dues owed to private power producers passed Tk 27,000 crore in late 2025.[8]
The timelines of recent plants show the pattern. Summit’s 583 MW Meghnaghat II plant signed its PPA in March 2019 and reached commercial operation in April 2024.[9]
04How to shorten the path
- Start with the site and the grid. Most delays trace back to land and the connection. Verify both before spending on anything else.
- Build one complete file. A feasibility study, land records and grid studies that answer every office’s questions the first time.
- Map every approval and its owner. Know which office signs what, in what order, and follow each file until it is signed.
- Plan the money early. Local and offshore accounts, foreign loan approvals, tax exemptions and repatriation, set up before they are needed.
- Audit before you submit. An independent check of the technical, legal and financial file catches the gaps a reviewer or lender would find.
“A project is built twice: first on paper, then on site. The paper takes longer.”
