Pioneering the manufacturing of construction materials, Panchakanya Group is considered as a force to be reckoned with in the Nepali industrial fraternity. The group is the result of a vision and the ambition of its founder Prem Bahadur Shrestha and the hard work of his sons. A 17 year old Prem Bahadur Shrestha, after rejecting a government job offer, decided to start a business of his own. His first venture was a potato farm in Fikkal of Ilam. However, it could not succeed. Then he came to Jhapa and began trading in rice and other items gradually achieving success. Afterwards he started a partnership business in timber in 2024 BS. With strong support from his brothers, the business turned out to become quite successful.
In 1971, Shrestha established the Panchakanya Rice Mill in Jhapa which is considered as a stepping stone inthe formation ofthe Panchakanya Group. In 1981, he ventured into iron and steel manufacturing by establishing the Panchakanya Iron Industries at Kotihawa, Rupandehi. The primary idea behind starting the company in Rupandehi was to tap the opportunities in the unexplored market for iron and steel construction materials in the western part of Nepal. During the 1980s, Panchakanya Group diversified further by setting up a pipe, wire and a steel manufacturing industry in Bhairahawa. The group then planned to build industrial plants in the Kathmandu Valley.
Today, the group has five plants in the Kathmandu Valley for manufacturing RMC (readymix concrete), stainless steel tanks, aggregates and furniture. In 1994, Panchakanya acquired Nepal Bitumen & Barrel Udhyog, a government owned company established in 1984, under the government’s privatisation programme.
In 2002, Panchakanya Steel became the first company to manufacture TMT steel bars in Nepal. Post-2015 earthquake, Panchakanya started a manufacturing plant for structural galvanized-steel and light gauge steel, which is first such plant in Nepal.
With its innovation in the steel industry, the number of industries under the flag of Panchakanya and its history of being a company with strong business repute, the group has today become a highly admired brand among the Nepalis.