Prabhakar SJB Rana, the Chairman Emeritus of Soaltee Crowne Plaza, has been engaged in a number of sectors particularly hospitality, trade, automobiles and hydropower. Soaltee Hotel, founded in 1967 and later managed by Oberoi Hotel group in 1969, turned into a public limited company in 1975 after Soaltee Enterprises, Nepal Industrial Development Corporation, International Finance Corporation, Oberoi Hotels, Nepal Airlines Corporation and the public bought its stakes. The public limited company now owns the Soaltee Crowne Plaza. Only a few months ago, the Soaltee Hotel Limited expanded its portfolio with a four-star hotel namely Soaltee Westend Premier Hotel in Nepalgunj.
In 1982, Prabhakar Rana established Sipradi Trading Pvt. Ltd. which became the exclusive distributor of Tata Motors Ltd. for Nepal in the same year. Meanwhile, Sipradi Energy, a company under Sipradi group of companies, represents Exide batteries and Luminous inverters. Apart from Sipradi, the Rana group has significant investments in manufacturing and hydropower. In 1986, Surya Nepal Pvt. Ltd., an Indo-Nepal-UK joint venture was established which manufactures the Surya brand of cigarettes, a best-selling cigarette brand in Nepal. Apart from the tobacco business, the company is engaged in the business of safety matches, incense and readymade garments.
In 1996, Bhote Koshi Power Company was added to the Rana’s group of businesses. The power company owns the 45 MW Upper Bhote Koshi hydro power project which is the first privately funded run of the river hydropower project in Nepal. Together with Soaltee Enterprises and Surya Enterprises, the investment companies through which the Rana family has made investments, the Rana group also has engagements in other businesses such as travel, transport and shipping, tea processing and private equity management.
With the growing and ever expanding business, Siddhartha SJB Rana (son of Prabhakar SJB Rana) who currently looks after the entire business operations has been often named as the top individual income taxpayer in Nepal, while Surya Nepal has often made it to the list of the top 10 tax paying enterprises. In addition, Sipradi Trading is amongst the highest tax-paying trading enterprises in Nepal bagging the award in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Although the group of businesses doesn’t have an official group name, it is believed that they prefer the name Siddhartha Rana Group.