NESCO Power Distribution System Strengthening Project (NDB-NESCOPOWERDISTRO)

Regions
  • South Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Bangladesh
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • New Development Bank (NDB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Borrower
Government of Bangladesh
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Infrastructure
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 125.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 125.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 151.63 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 18568
Converted using 2026-03-11 exchange rate.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ NDB website

Updated in EWS Jul 1, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Mar 11, 2026

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the NDB, the power distribution infrastructure operated by Northern Electricity Supply Company PLC (NESCO) in Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions faces critical technical and operational challenges, including insufficient capacity to address growing demand, and aging assets resulting in high system losses and low power quality.

The proposed NESCO Power Distribution System Strengthening Project is a critical response to address these challenges. Through installation and upgradation of key components, such as substations, transformers, distribution lines etc., the Project will augment the capacity of power distribution system, enhance network efficiency by reducing losses.

The Project comprises the following key components:

  • Installation, renovation and upgrade of 14 substations of 33kV
  • Installation and upgrade of power distribution lines with a total length of 3,837km
  • Installation of three 33kV bays and breakers
  • Installation of 3,974 distribution transformers
Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated on the company's LinkedIn account, Northern Electrical Supply PLC is an enterprise of the Bangladesh power Development Board. NESCO started its commercial operation from 01 January, 2018 to provide electricity of 2 Million people at 16 districts of Rajshahi & Rangpur Division. 

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Northern Electricity Supply Company Ltd. Contractor Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No project contacts provided at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information through a form at the bottom of the following webpage https://www.ndb.int/about-us/contact-us Alternatively, you can send an e-mail to info@ndb.int

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK

The New Development Bank (NDB) does not currently have an independent accountability mechanism to accept complaints related to NDB-financed projects. The Bank does have a whistleblower mechanism that receives complaints about misconduct related to corruption, fraudulent practices and instances of money laundering in projects financed by the NDB and/or against the NDB staff members. To learn more about the whistleblower mechanism and how to file a complaint, access this webpage at: https://www.ndb.int/about-us/whistleblowing

How it works

How it works