Grants for Young Innovators
Bangladesh Bank Issues Uddyog Financing Policy
- Tech startups, solar energy, and light engineering secure twenty-lakh financing packages
- Qualified entrepreneurs receive ten-lakh credit alongside an equivalent matching grant
- Unpaid loan liabilities automatically convert disbursed grants into fully repayable debt
Promoting light engineering, renewable power generation, and technology-driven startups, Bangladesh Bank has issued the operational policy for the youth entrepreneurship financing program 'Uddyog'.
The central bank released the comprehensive directive on Sunday, September 13. Under the guidelines, youth entrepreneurs up to 28 years of age operating at the upazila level are eligible to access seed capital and funding for their ventures.
The circular states that selected projects will receive total financing of up to 20 lakh BDT. The structure allocates up to 10 lakh BDT as formal credit, paired with a matching one-time grant of up to 10 lakh BDT disbursed concurrently.
To ensure repayment discipline, the central bank stipulated that failure to settle the loan component will automatically convert the grant allocation into standard interest-bearing debt. Consequently, entrepreneurs must fully service and repay their loans to retain the non-repayable grant benefit.
The facility covers tech-driven startups, solar and renewable energy production, light engineering workshops, modern agricultural logistics, food processing, fisheries, livestock, eco-tourism, and authorized regional service enterprises.
//DBTech/OC/SE/EIC//
