--By TC Correspondent
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| Manoj Kedia Executive Director Kedia Organisation |
Kedia Organisation, a multi-million business conglomerate is not only one of the largest business houses in Nepal but also one of the oldest. The business house has diversified itself into agriculture, dairy, banking, trading among other industries without leaving a bit of the manufacturing sector that the group is focused on.
Kedia Group is a well-known name in the cement, carpet and sugar industry. Manoj Kedia, Executive Director of the organisation says that his group has recently started manufacturing PVC carpet and is soon upgrading production capacity of Indusankhar Sugar Mill, one of Nepal’s oldest and leading sugar factories.
It is an established name in the service industry. With some significant investment in this sector the business house is major promoter of Siddhartha Insurance, Siddhartha Capital and Siddhartha Bank and apart from that has been running several schools and hospitals in various parts of the country.
The group has not limited itself with the sectors it has proven expertise in. It is continuously expanding. As part of its expansion plan, the group has made some investments in the housing and hydropower sector. Stating these investments to be insignificant, Kedia says that they are mainly made with a motive to get acquainted with these sectors.
Hydro Interests
The power shortage has taken its toll on the industrial sector. And, Kedia Organisation is not an exception. Therefore, the group has lately made investments in hydropower generation. Kedia explains the groups’ logic behind its involvement in energy sector, “Power deficit is a national problem and it is obvious that major business houses want to engage in the power generation business as they are incurring heavy losses due to it.” With the growing demand for energy and high market potentials, energy has become a lucrative industry.
Kedia says that the group has not made substantial investment in the energy sector as of now. “We have invested as shareholder in this sector to study the sectoral behaviour,” he says. He further adds that the country needs friendly laws and policies to attract FDI in the energy sector terming it to be a capital-intensive.
Service and Trade Focus
The service and trading sector has lured a lot of business houses to divert from their traditional specialisation in manufacturing. They feel that it is difficult for manufacturing sector to prosper due to power shortage, open import of cheap goods from India and China. Kedia feels that it is extremely difficult for Nepali companies to compete with imported products in terms of cost. This is one of the reasons for the Kedia Organisation to diversify its portfolio into the service and trading businesses. Kedia adds, “Lack of skilled and productive manpower, unfriendly labour environment and decrease in agricultural production has triggered increase in imports of agro products. These are other factors that are affecting the growth of the manufacturing industries in Nepal and discouraging investors to invest in manufacturing sectors.”
Agro Player
Kedia Group is one of the key players in the agriculture and food processing industry. The group is involved in agro-based industries with half a dozen companies that process and produce various food products such as rice, flour, lentils and sugar. Mahabir Adhunik Dal Udyog is one of the oldest manufacturing units in the lentil industry with a working history of more than 75 years. This unit recently upgraded its production capacity to 96 metric tonnes per day.
Along with producing agro-based products, the group is trying to create backward linkages with the farmers. Kedia says that the group has been regularly coordinating with farmers that it deals with. “We regularly provide them with various skill-based trainings and loans. We have set up a sugar mill in Sarlahi district, country’s major sugarcane-growing centre, and it is an instance that reflects how we work in coordination with farmers. In addition to that, we have been actively engaged with farmers in the dairy business as well,” he said.
Five Years Later
With the changing political environment, business houses have found reasons to be optimistic about the future. Kedia says that his group is not only hopeful about the probable growth of his business but also looks forward for growth in the overall development of the country.
The group has plans to diversify its business involvements. Kedia reveals that his group will be engaged in the infrastructure, tourism, power and in the manufacturing sector. “All we need is a strong and stable government, business-friendly policies and fair competition between private sector players. The domestic market has huge potentials and Kedia Group looks forward to tap and invest in them to create more jobs in the domestic market itself,” he says.
The Rise of Kedia Organisation
Kedia Organisation was established in 1909 as an evolution of the family owned trading business. The Kedia family started its business as a cloth merchant with stores in Birgunj and Kathmandu that selling imports from India. With the initiation and leadership of Brij Lal Kedia, first generation businessperson of the family, the business gradually expanded into food grains trading. It started small but as time progressed, it expanded across Nepal. Manoj Kedia, Executive Director of Kedia Organisation, narrates, “He used to collect food grains from every corner of the country and supply them to even remote areas that lacked transportation facilities. For the first time in Nepal, he fixed prices of food grains and at a certain point, even the Khadya Sansthan (government owned Nepal Food Corporation) fixed food grain prices by consulting him. Later he established rice mills, dal mills and many more food grain factories. He established Nepal’s first modern rice mill, Bhagwati Rice Mill.”
Shankar Lal Kedia expanded foothold in the manufacturing sector. He established factories related to steel furniture, stainless steel utensils, textile, umbrella, socks, wheat flour, corrugated steel, copper utensil etc. Kedia says that during that time, the steel, textile, and corrugated sheet industries from Kedias were pioneers in their respective fields. They then became the backbones of the present day Kedia Organisation. At the same time, the group also entered in general merchandising sector by importing goods from third countries and bulk-traded them in local market. Imported goods included clothes, electronics, food items, medical equipment, household products, hardware, cement, sugar, and edible oil among others. Meanwhile the company also exported rice to Tibet and pulses and lentils to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and to some European countries.
Similarly, the group established Caltex Company, a petrol pump agent in Nepal, and this is still in operation as Kedia Auto in Birgunj. Kedia claims that Kedia Group also is one of the first industrial houses to advertise its products. “We sponsored the “Sundar Sushil Sangeet”, a popular song-on-request programme aired on Radio Nepal, to promote our products,” he says.
Today the group has over 1000 administrative staff, more than 100 technical staff and over 2500 skilled and semi-skilled workers. Today the group has investments in around four dozen companies, doing business in wide range of sectors.
| Banks and Financial Institutions • Gorkha Finance Ltd • Siddhartha Bank Ltd • Siddhartha Capital Ltd • Siddhartha Insurance Ltd Fabrication and Iron and Steel • Narayani Metal Industries • Sundar Wire and Nails • Sundar Furniture Industries Pvt Ltd • Sundar Steel Pvt Ltd Dairy and Agro Industries • Amarawati Madyashala Pvt Ltd • Sitaram Gokul Milks Kathmandu Ltd • Indushankar Chini Udyog Ltd • Mahabir Adhunik Dal Udyog • Ram Dal Udyog • Brijlal Chamal Udyog Harion • Birgunj Khadya Udyog Pvt Ltd Exports • Medical Herbs • Red Split Lentils • Flooring Carpets • Refined Vegetable Ghee • Pashmina (Cashmere) Products Imports • Paper Products • Textile & Fabrics • Industrial Supplies • Metals & Minerals • Printing & Publishing • Construction Supplies • General Merchandise • Agro & food Products • Flooring & Furnishing • Fertilizers & Chemicals • Medical & Pharmaceuticals • Electronic & Electrical Goods • Cosmetics & Household Appliances Foreign Brand Representation • Haier • Hisense • Toshiba • Evernal • Mitsuma • Chin Yang Corporation (South Korea) • Bharat Petroleum Corporation (India) Trading Companies • Trading Firm • Sumit Impex • Kanak New Traders • Nepal Multinational Pvt Ltd • Eshita Trading Pvt Ltd • Yagya Shree Pvt Ltd • Sauryn Exim Pvt ltd • Infotech Solution Pvt Ltd • Nepal Sagarmatha Traders • Diamond Agro International • Rohit International Pvt Ltd • Sanjay Trade Links Pvt Ltd • Kedia International Pvt Ltd Education • Sundarmal Ram Kumar Girls Higher Secondary School, Birgunj • Maharaja Agrasen Faculty of Management, Birgunj • D.A.V. Rukamani Banarasi Kedia School, Birgunj • D.A.V. Sushi Kedia Vishwa Bharati, Harion, Sarlahi • D.A.V. Kedia Vishwa Bharati, Biratnagar • D.A.V. Kedia Vishwa Bharati Nepal, Kathmandu • D.A.V. Sushil Kedia Vishwa Bharati, Lalitpur Healthcare and Welfare • Ram Kumar Mahabir Prasad Kedia Eye Hospital, Birgunj • Mahabir Prasad Brijlal Kedia Dental Institute, Birgunj • Sitaram Kedia Sewa Sadan, Harion, Sarlahi • Nepal Bodhi Tree International Society, Birgunj • Mahabir Prasad Brijlal Kedia Sewa Trust, Birgunj • Kedia Children’s Scholarship Fund, Birgunj • Sushil Kedia Sewa Foundation, Birgunj Other Manufacturing units • Brij Cement Pvt Ltd • Sundar Candles • Sushil Vanaspati Pvt Ltd • Yeti Fabrics Ltd |
