Chiranjilal Agrawal has played a big role in bringing Nepali industries in general and his family’s own MC (Madanlal-Chiranjilal) Group of Companies to today’s position. He worked continuously to diversify and modernise the Agrawal family business. His father late Dhiraj Agrawal started with a clothes shop in Dharan 97 years ago. And it was there that Chiranjilal learned about business.

Born in 1932 AD, Agrawal completed his bachelor’s degree in management from Calcutta University. He started his career as a contractor while his two elder brothers, Madan Lal and Gopi Krishna Lal, followed his father’s clothing business. At the age of 20, he took up a contract to build a dam under the Koshi Bridge Project in 1954 AD. After a few years in the construction business, he then established a trading centre in Biratnagar to sell rice and cereals with his two brothers. He started to export items up to Kerala, India. The Agrawal family then started to export jute sacks to India which they purchased from the Biratnagar Jute Mill and Raghupati Jute Mill. As a farsighted person, Chiranjilal did not limit his business just to the eastern region. He expanded the business of his two brothers in Hetauda and Kathmandu. The group over the years pioneered across many sectors. Diversifying the family business, MC Group established a beverage industry by bottling Pepsi Cola. Similarly, the group started the production of Star Beer in Hetauda which is regarded as the first beer company in Nepal. Similarly, the Group purchased Golchha Fiber Industry in Kathmandu. MC Group is the first to start yarn and knitting industry in the country. At present, all these industries are not under the MC group. Some are closed and some have already been sold. Meanwhile, Agrawal is also regarded as the first businessman to start air ticketing business in Nepal. Chiranjilal established a ticketing agency in Kathmandu partnering with the then Himalayan Airlines that used to operate five Dakota aircrafts which later merged with the Indian Airlines in the early 1950s. 

The group is also a pioneer in the marble processing industry. The group opened the Godawari Marble Industry in 2035 BS which is the first marble industry in the country. However it was later closed. Currently, MC Group has diversified its business which range from copper and brass metal industries, a packaging industry, hydropower, banks and insurance companies along with becoming involved in sectors such as education and health. With his brothers late Madanlal Agrawal and Gopi Krishna Agrawal, Chiranjilal established an industrial and commercial house from a trading entity which now employs around 1,700 staffs and has annual turnover over Rs 2.5 billion. 

Agrawal who has watched the growth of the Nepali industrial sector closely is well-known for his time management skills and ethical business practices. Now 85, he still goes to his office, sharing his experiences, encouraging the employees to perform better and advising them from time to time. According to him, in the face of global economic change, Nepal needs an economic revolution in order to keep up. Agrawal is also the first Vice-President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). He is also the founder Chairman of Siddhartha Bank and the President of Nepal Marwari Parishad. He also holds various posts in more than a dozen reputed organisations. Agrawal has been conferred with various prestigious awards and honours including the ‘Suprasidha Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu’ and ‘Tri Shaktti Patta’ for his contributions.