Can a factory in Bangladesh get a solar loan through a Bangladesh Bank refinance scheme?

Bangladesh Bank does not lend to factories itself. Its circular of 11 May 2026 refinances your bank for loans to rural and local industries, with renewable energy listed as a purpose. The bank charges you at most 5 percent, and no one borrower can get more than 5 crore Taka (Tk), where 1 crore is 10 million.

What refinance means, in plain words

Refinance is like a wholesaler restocking a shop. You do not buy from the wholesaler. You buy from the shop, which is your bank, and the wholesaler, which is Bangladesh Bank, lends the shop money at a low cost so it can lend to you.

So you apply to your own bank. The bank then applies to Bangladesh Bank, and a Bangladesh Bank team visits the project before it sets the refinance limit.

What the 11 May 2026 circular says

This is Sustainable Finance Department (SFD) Circular No. 01. It draws on the Green Transformation Fund, which Bangladesh Bank set up at Tk 5,000 crore. Tk 1,000 crore of it is set aside only for rural and local industries, and it is a revolving fund from Bangladesh Bank's own resources. This is the Taka fund for rural and local industries. It is separate from the dollar Green Transformation Fund for exporters.

• Purpose: to help industries buy conventional or environment-friendly capital machinery and parts, in areas that include renewable energy, energy efficiency, water conservation and management, waste management, resource efficiency and recycling, and work environment improvement.
• Refinance period: 2 to 5 years, depending on the project.
• Rates: Bangladesh Bank charges your bank 1 percent. Your bank may charge you at most 5 percent.
• Grace period: at most 6 months, set between your bank and you.
• Loan type: a term loan, or a mix of working capital and term loan.
• Loan share: the loan to your own money must be 80:20 at most, set against the total import or purchase cost. No single borrower can get more than Tk 5 crore under this fund. Tk 5 crore is 50 million Taka.
• Renewable share: at least 10 percent of the project's total electricity use must come from renewable fuel.
• Not eligible: borrowers who are loan defaulters. Your bank pulls your Credit Information Bureau (CIB) report and does due diligence.
• Which banks: banks that have signed a participation agreement with Bangladesh Bank. All state-owned banks can lend under it. Private and foreign banks need classified loans below 20 percent. Ask if yours has signed.

What the circular does not say

The circular names renewable energy as an area. It does not name rooftop solar, and the text I read does not define how small a rural or local industry must be. Ask your bank in writing whether your project qualifies before you spend on design.

Other schemes to ask about

• SFD Circular No. 03 of 8 June 2026 sets up a Tk 1,000 crore refinance for green factory buildings and green industry, for 3 to 10 years, with a Bangladesh Bank rate of 2 percent and a customer rate of at most 5 percent. It asks for a green building rating such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE), Building Energy Efficiency and Environment Rating (BEEER) or GreenARCH (a green building rating). My reading: it suits a building more than a solar array. Ask your bank whether solar counts.
• SFD Circular No. 02 of 30 August 2023 lists a net metering rooftop solar system among its products. I could not confirm that it still applies, so ask your bank which circular it will use.

Records to have ready

• Your letter asking for the loan and refinance, and your CIB report. The circular lists both.
• A copy of the bank board's approval, profiles of you and the project, and your loan account statement. The circular lists these too.
• My addition, not in the circular: twelve months of electricity bills, so the 10 percent renewable share can be shown against total use.

A rooftop solar project at a factory using 60,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) a year (example numbers)

• Cost of imported or locally bought panels and inverters: Tk 7 crore. Installation may not count, so ask the bank
• 80 percent of Tk 7 crore = Tk 5.6 crore, but the Tk 5 crore cap applies, so the loan is at most Tk 5 crore
• Your own money: Tk 7 crore minus Tk 5 crore = Tk 2 crore
• Renewable share test: 10 percent of 60,000,000 kWh = 6,000,000 kWh a year must come from renewable fuel

These are example numbers, not a quote or an approval. The cap and the 80:20 ratio are the circular's; the project cost and use are made up for the example, and the circular does not say what solar output a given cost buys.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records. Twelve months of electricity bills can show your total use, which is the base for the 10 percent renewable share. Loans and refinance are decided by your bank and Bangladesh Bank.

• Bangladesh grid emission factor for factories
• Rooftop solar on a Bangladesh garment factory
• Rooftop solar payback for a factory
• Green loan for a garment factory in Dhaka

Sources: Bangladesh Bank, Sustainable Finance Department Circular No. 01, 11 May 2026 (refinance from the Green Transformation Fund for rural and local industries), Bangladesh Bank, Sustainable Finance Department Circular No. 03, 8 June 2026 (green factory building and green industry refinance), Bangladesh Bank, Sustainable Finance Department Circular No. 02, 30 August 2023, Annexure 1 (list of eligible products)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. Read from the Bangla circular of 11 May 2026 and the SFD circulars list. The circular text is in Bangla, so this page is my reading of it. Ask your bank for its current terms and for the latest SFD circular before applying. The Green Transformation Fund sizes on the live Dhaka garment article should be checked against this circular.