# IDCOL refunds Tk 210 crore to Yunus’ Grameen Shakti from settled loan account

- Link: https://globalvoicebd.com/factbox/idcol-refunds-tk-210-crore-to-yunus-grameen-shakti-from-settled-loan-account/
- Published: 2026-11-06T09:07:01-05:00
- Author: GV Newsroom

The government-owned Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) has refunded
Tk 210.25 crore in cash to Grameen Shakti from a fully settled Solar Home System(
SHS) loan account, according to an audit report.

The Economic Relations Division has described the transaction as a severe financial
irregularity and an unprecedented conflict of interest.

Grameen Shakti was founded by Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who became Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s
interim government on 8 August 2024 and currently serves as the organisation’s chairman.
The refund process was completed after he assumed that role. Muhammad Fawzul Kabir
Khan, who was IDCOL’s Managing Director when Grameen Shakti originally received 
the solar loans, later became an adviser in the same interim government overseeing
the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources ministry among other portfolios.

### Background of the Solar Programme and Loans

IDCOL launched the Solar Home System programme in January 2003 with government and
international donor support to expand electricity access in off-grid areas. It disbursed
a total of Tk 4,545 crore in loans to 53 partner organisations. Forty-two of them
settled their accounts according to the rules. Grameen Shakti and eight other organisations,
however, accumulated Tk 523.50 crore in overdue loans. The largest defaulters included
Grameen Shakti, Rural Services Foundation (RSF), and Srizoni Bangladesh.

There have been longstanding allegations that Grameen Shakti borrowed from IDCOL
on soft terms but sold the solar systems to its microcredit clients at significantly
higher interest rates, while itself delaying repayments to IDCOL for years. By February
2024, Grameen Shakti’s outstanding balance stood at Tk 396.93 crore. On 11 March
2024, it made a one-time payment of Tk 391.95 crore without any waiver, fully closing
the loan account.

### How the Refund Was Processed

After the political change in August 2024 and Yunus’s appointment as Chief Adviser,
Grameen Shakti submitted an application to IDCOL on 12 September 2024. The letter
requested a 50% waiver of outstanding dues up to 31 December 2022 and a cash refund
of an equivalent amount—Tk 210.25 crore—from previously paid funds.

Despite the account already having been closed, the application moved quickly. On
30 April 2025, IDCOL’s board formally approved the waiver and write-off of Tk 210.25
crore on paper. On 20 May 2025, the same amount was transferred to Grameen Shakti
via RTGS banking channel.

### IDCOL’s Position

IDCOL has defended the decision, citing the rapid expansion of the Rural Electrification
Board’s grid, free government solar distributions, and resulting market competition
that put partner organisations under financial strain. In June 2022, its 292nd board
meeting approved partial loan waivers for 39 organisations; Grameen Shakti and five
others were not on that list.

IDCOL states that Grameen Shakti later presented field-level arguments, leading 
to an in-principle decision on waiver and refund at the 318th board meeting on 6
November 2024. The Economic Relations Division gave no-objection on 25 February 
2025, and Bangladesh Bank did the same on 10 March 2025. After a favourable opinion
from the law firm Law Valley and a notarised undertaking from Grameen Shakti, final
approval was granted at the 324th board meeting on 30 April 2025. IDCOL maintains
that no law was violated.

### Audit Findings

The audit team has rejected this justification. It notes that standard financial
practice may allow limited interest waivers while a loan remains outstanding, but
there is no legal or contractual basis for reopening a fully settled and closed 
account to refund hundreds of crores in cash. IDCOL could not produce any clause
in the loan agreement or adequate financial documentation to justify the transaction.
The audit describes the refund as a direct loss of Tk 210.25 crore to IDCOL and 
recommends that the amount be recovered and deposited into the government treasury.

The report further states that taking such a decision while the founder and chairman
of the beneficiary organisation held the highest office in the interim government,
and while the former IDCOL managing director involved in the original lending held
a senior policy-making position, constitutes a serious breach of financial discipline
and good governance.

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_This is a rewritten, English-language version of the report published by Dhaka 
Papers on 6 November 2026, based on the audit findings described in the original
article._