Missing Solar Project Records, Loan Fraud and Widespread Corruption Plague IDCOL
Pancayet Habib
The BNP government has taken wide steps to expand solar power, and some of them deserve praise. It has made big plans to finance projects through IDCOL. IDCOL has funded infrastructure, renewable energy, solar home systems, biogas, mini grids, rooftop solar, energy saving technology and modern green brick kilns. But people in the sector now doubt whether the plan can succeed while the fascist Mr. Enamul Karim Pavel and his syndicate stay in place.
Over the past 17 years, loan fraud and other corruption have hurt IDCOL (Infrastructure Development Company Limited), a state owned company. In some sectors, up to 100 percent of its loans are now classified. Experts doubt that the new Domestic Rooftop Solar (DRS) programme can succeed if the people behind the fraud stay. They fear that past events will happen again, and they say the government must first reform IDCOL.
The Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary and IDCOL chairman, Mr. Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiqui, is abroad, so we could not get his comment. We called IDCOL’s Head of Renewable Energy, Mr. Md. Enamul Karim Pavel, by phone. We could not get his comment either.
Experts say it is hard to expect success from the DRS programme while the old syndicate stays at IDCOL. Because of that syndicate, the state lost about Tk 1,500 crore in the Solar Home System (SHS) programme. Under SHS, IDCOL gave a total of Tk 4,242 crore in loans to 44 partner organisations over time. On 31 December 2019, the unpaid loans stood at Tk 1,381 crore.
As recovery got worse, IDCOL cut the interest rate on unpaid loans from 3 percent to zero. Even then, recovery did not improve as hoped. Up to 31 December 2025, IDCOL approved a waiver of Tk 489 crore in loans for borrowers. Even so, 100 percent of the unpaid SHS loans are now classified.
In the solar irrigation pump programme, 67 percent of loans are classified, and in the biogas programme, 79 percent. IDCOL has written off the loans that it thinks it has almost no chance of recovering. It removed them from its accounts and balance sheet. People in the sector say weak collateral is one big reason for the failure to recover money.
So IDCOL handed out huge loans, then cut interest to zero, then waived hundreds of crores of taka. In the end, all remaining unpaid loans became classified and reached the stage of court cases and write offs. This shows serious weakness in the loan management and financial stability of the SHS programme. One such partner is Hilful Fuzul Samaj Kallyan Sangstha (Hilful Fuzul).
IDCOL gave this organisation over Tk 133.63 crore in 97 instalments from 2006 to 2014. With interest and other charges, people involved say the debt has grown to over Tk 149 crore. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) found record breaking irregularities, broken contracts and missing files in this loan. The ACC has investigated and found proof of corruption and fraud.
People in the sector say the same syndicate caused the Hilful Fuzul fraud and many other loan frauds. They find it hard to believe that new financing through IDCOL can succeed, or that money can be brought back, while those corrupt people stay. They say the Hilful Fuzul case is the most talked about. The fraud happened when IDCOL gave Tk 133.63 crore in 97 instalments to Hilful Fuzul Samaj Kallyan Sangstha (HFSKS) from 2006 to 2014 in the name of the SHS project. Fraud shows up at every step, from the first loan approval to the release of money.
Money released above the approved limit
According to the inquiry, a 2009 contract set HFSKS’s loan limit at about Tk 7.77 crore until 31 December 2011. IDCOL broke all rules and paid Tk 36.22 crore in 62 instalments in that period. Without board approval, it released Tk 28.46 crore extra in this one period alone. A 2012 contract set the highest loan limit at Tk 46.23 crore.
Even so, IDCOL kept paying freely until 2014 with no new contract or valid approval, and the total loan reached Tk 133.63 crore. This was fully illegal and against the contract. It shows how deeply the syndicate was involved in corruption and fraud. IDCOL approved and released loans without any checks.
Solar systems and customer files go missing
The files hold no proper proof of how the loan money was used in the field. The rule said IDCOL must visit at least 10 percent of customers’ homes after selling solar home systems. But the files hold no reliable, joined up record of customer names, national ID cards, addresses, solar system serial numbers or down payments. So there is strong doubt about whether anyone actually installed solar home systems or whether the organisation took crores of taka with fake papers.
Hundreds of crores lent without collateral
IDCOL’s 129th and 163rd board meetings gave strict orders for loans. They required mortgages on fixed and movable property, personal guarantees from directors, third party corporate guarantees and land mortgages. Strangely, the later amended contracts dropped most of these board approved securities. Even the one or two token securities that stayed in the contracts were never made effective or recorded legally. So this government loan of hundreds of crores of taka is now fully unprotected.
Business plans and performance reviews vanish
Two main conditions for the loan were an approved business plan and a yearly performance review. IDCOL’s files hold no business plan or performance review for HFSKS. The audit report and ledger book that would show whether it had the required equity in the first year have also vanished from IDCOL’s files. A review of the files shows that IDCOL approved loans for 76 rooftop solar projects with 301 megawatts of capacity from 2017 to 2026.
The company Scube works as the EPC contractor on 23 of these projects, with 91 megawatts of capacity. Scube belongs to the nephew of Mr. Mokha Alamgir of the Awami League. These projects make up about 30 percent of the total approved capacity. From 2017 to 2024, the company won over 41 percent of the approved rooftop solar projects.
People in the sector ask why most work goes to a few companies when the country has about 200 EPC firms. Mr. Enamul Karim Pavel has built his own syndicate circle. His close helpers include the head of the Solar Irrigation department, Mr. Md. Abdullah Al Matin, Vice President (Renewable Energy) Mr. Russel Ahmed, and the head of the Environmental and Social Safeguard unit, Mr. Ahmedul Hye Chowdhury.
Officials’ strange role and next steps
After the fascist government left in August 2024, many places saw change, but Mr. Enamul Karim Pavel, a friend of the fascists, stayed at IDCOL. He has served on deputation as Head of Renewable Energy for 22 years. He escaped punishment for all his misdeeds and corruption thanks to his brother in law, Mr. Alauddin Nasim. Mr. Nasim was a powerful protocol officer of the runaway Ms. Hasina.
Mr. Alauddin Nasim jumped over senior leaders and became a Member of Parliament (Feni 1) in the 2024 night election. There is shocking evidence of many kinds of corruption against Mr. Pavel. Some of his corruption should have cost him his job long ago, yet he won several promotions while sitting at IDCOL. On fund release papers, Mr. Pavel certified that all conditions for release, the legal duties under the participation agreement and all conditions of the financing agreement were met.
But the reviewed files show that the later amended contracts dropped most of the securities the board approved. The business plan, the yearly review and field visits were all lacking, yet Mr. Pavel certified that all conditions were met. A key question in this loan irregularity is what papers and facts he based that certification on. He should have been the main accused in the Tk 133 crore loan fraud in the name of Hilful Fuzul Samaj Kallyan Sangstha.
Yet during the Awami League government, the ACC did not dare to even send him a notice. Rumour says that he paid money and also used his brother in law’s power to stay out of reach. The ACC summoned all officers above him and below him. The ACC report says he has become reckless because he escaped punishment for so many irregularities.
