Bangladesh’s renewable energy transition, driven by depleting natural gas reserves and a national target of 40 per cent renewable electricity by 2041, has generated growing conflict between utility-scale solar development and the country’s densely populated, agrarian land base. This policy note draws on a mixed-methods study combining qualitative fieldwork at two solar sites (Manikganj and Moulvibazar), satellite remote sensing analysis of 15 Bangladeshi solar installations, and a difference-in-differences analysis of 6,705 South Asian solar sites. Findings show that solar development in Bangladesh converts agricultural and forested land at scale, with satellite evidence directly contradicting environmental assessments that classify project sites as “non-agricultural.” Field research documents a recurring pattern of dalal-mediated land acquisition involving inadequate compensation, false promises of alternative livelihoods, suppressed community resistance, and disproportionate impacts on women’s agricultural roles. A comparative case study of three haor (wetland) sites in Moulvibazar reveals distinct conflict dynamics—forced acquisition, hidden corporate expansion, and pre-emptive community mobilisation—each demanding different policy responses. These ground-level failures are compounded by structural governance weaknesses, including a forensic audit finding that solar power purchase agreements were overpriced by 70–80 per cent under a non-competitive procurement framework. The note argues that land scarcity constraints on solar siting are partly a governance artefact rather than a geographic inevitability, given substantial rooftop and agrivoltaic potential, and offers recommendations for government, development finance institutions, the solar industry, and civil society to advance more equitable and consent-based siting practices.
Author: Chaudhuri, Anushree and Rashid, Tasin
Type: Policy Brief
Publisher: BIGD
Year: 2026
