December 22: The proprietor of Bhatbhateni Superstore, the country's leading retail shopping center and department store, is planning to invest in the agricultural sector of Nepal. The department store’s owner Min Bahadur Gurung said that Bhatbhateni is preparing to invest in agriculture upon realizing that commercial agriculture is necessary to replace foreign agricultural products that are influencing the domestic market of Nepal.

He believes that even though there is a huge potential in the agricultural sector, this sector is always neglected in Nepal.

“My future professional plan is agriculture,” Gurung said in a special conversation with New Business Age, adding, “If the state can make some good policy reforms in the agricultural sector, this sector can take a big leap.”

Gurung said that in the initial phase, his company has a plan to rent about 1,000 bighas of land and cultivate rice, wheat, corn and paddy using modern technology. He said that he will gradually connect the small and big farmers and give them the profit. When Bhatbhateni started business, it sold only 5 percent of Nepali goods. Now it has increased domestically produced goods to 30-35 percent.

Gurung says that Bhatbhateni Superstore, which started in the year 2041 BS by selling chocolates, biscuits, cheese, butter, some foreign drinks, etc, has now become a store that sells maximum types of goods on par with most of the department stores in the world.

It has 26 branches operating all over the country inside and outside Kathmandu Valley. A new branch is opening soon in Birtamode. Bhatbhateni has directly employed more than 7,000 people in its branches across the country. He says he achieved this success due to determination, hard work, honesty and perseverance to work in business expansion.

Plan to launch an IPO within five years

Bhatbhateni, which has a successful history of 30/35 years, is now planning to issue shares to the public (IPO) within the next five years.

Saying that it is necessary to issue an IPO, Gurung said that if some technical aspects are met, the plan is to issue IPO within the next five years. Gurung also said that he aspires to establish Bhatbhateni as the largest taxpayer in the country by further expanding the business.

Gurung, who was born in 2015 BS in an ordinary farmer's family in Khotang district, says that he entered Kathmandu with Rs 400 to pursue his postgraduate degree in 2031 after completing his undergraduate studies in Dharan.

He started working at Nepal Bank Limited shortly after coming to Kathmandu and said that he was impressed when he saw a woman running a department store while visiting Hong Kong. After returning from Hong Kong, he opened a small shop for his wife and started the business. He said as the business got better, he left his banking job in 2050 and went into ful-scale business.

Gurung's business now has 60 percent of his share and 40 percent is owned by his wife. He attributed Bhatbhateni's success to low margin profit and good response to customers.