Ankit Kedia is the Director of Kedia Organisation, which was founded in 1912 by his great grandfather. The company began with rice and flour mills before expanding into the agri-sector, including sugar, pulses and edible oils. He also founded Mahabir Group, which is the largest processor of pulses in Nepal with a total processing capacity of 240 tonnes of raw material per day. Ankit has been a member of the GPC Board of Directors since 2019. 

Hi Ankit, thank you very much for joining me, let’s dive straight in. Can you give us an overview of the pulses market in Nepal?

The domestic production in comparison with imports is less than 7%, so we don’t consider the local production in terms of any substantial volume. In terms of other pulses and their demand, Nepal imports around 100 - 150,000 tonnes of pulses in all varieties, of which lentils make up around 40,000 tonnes and chickpeas around 50,000 tonnes. These come mainly from Australia and Canada.

After that, we have black matpe which constitutes around 22,000 tonnes, and green mung beans which come to us from various African origins, Argentina, and also Myanmar. And lastly pigeon peas, these are usually from Africa or Myanmar. Nepal’s staple diet consists of pulses and rice, so in our everyday meals or snacks pulses are used in various forms -- sometimes processed or made into flour.

Pulse consumption is quite high at the moment across all varieties. However, there has not been a growth in demand because of outward migration to India, Malaysia and gulf nations, also tourism into Nepal has declined over the last few years due to Covid. One major problem in Nepal is that processed pulses and raw pulses both have the same tax duty, which causes a problem for the millers who have invested in production houses -- they still have to face competition with the imported pulses.

Do you have any thoughts on how this could be rectified?

We have brought to light, to our government, that we are creating huge job opportunities for the people of Nepal, and that we also create other products through using by-materials, such as husks, so we are able to provide raw materials for different industries. We are trying to convince them to differentiate the duty for production houses and traders.

Tell me more about your place in the pulses market at the moment. What other challenges and opportunities do you see in the Nepalese pulses market?

Currently, in terms of demand and supply, direct and indirect trade, local trade and market share, our company constitutes around 35% of the market share of all pulses, all across Nepal. Even in the Himalayan regions and the nearest town to Everest, our pulses are supplied to every corner of Nepal right now. Mahabir’s main motivation is to have a continued supply of all types of pulses. Our vendors are happy with us because we can provide them with any particular pulse and amount. We are able to assure the vendors and the government that we won’t see any shortages for an extended period, and that we can consistently supply Nepal with all varieties of pulses.

It sounds like the country really relies on you to deliver everyone’s staples! Can you tell me how long you have been a board member with the Global Pulse Confederation, and what have you learnt during this time?

I was elected as a board member in 2019 but of course in 2020 Covid arrived, so it wasn’t until 2022 that I met everyone in Dubai, which was great. This has benefited us in terms of experience, knowledge and recognition. We can share suggestions and advice with other GPC registered members and work with them, and we have created business relationships with other buyers and suppliers, which is very useful for communication purposes also.

So in terms of networking and for logistical purposes it has been very helpful to be a board member?

Yes, and also it allows us to share helpful information about production quantities because the demand of Nepal is largely unknown, so we can talk about the actual quantities of demand and supply with suppliers. We try to provide the right knowledge and information so that nobody gets cheated with regard to quantity or price, neither the buyer or the seller. It should be a healthy business, a win-win for everyone.

That’s fantastic to hear. The Southeast Asia AgriSummit 2023 is coming up this January. Tell us a little bit about how you might be involved in this, and what you believe the benefits are of events like these.

This is the first time this kind of Summit is happening in Nepal. When delegates visit Nepal it will help them to discover and understand the real demand for all types of pulses. And not just pulses, all types of grains too: rice, sugar, edible oils, dry fruits and other herbs, there are so many other agro products.There is no real restriction when getting a visa in Nepal, it is mostly arranged on arrival. This summit will help Nepalese buyers and manufacturers to have better knowledge and to link their relationships with the buyers around the world.

Brilliant. What are you looking forward to most about the Summit? Do you have any specific expectations for this year?

I will be on the advising board for the Summit. The organisers Mr Sudhakar Tomar and Mr Vivek Agrawal have been good friends with us and business associates also, so they know us very well. There were other potential destinations for the summit such as India and Sri Lanka, but I was really keen that it be located in Nepal. We want Nepal to come into the bigger picture! They thought this was a great idea, so they came to Nepal. We had a couple of events and they met a lot of people here. It’s been a really good experience and they’re actually still here working on the Summit. With regards to expectations of the Summit, I cannot justify it in any words but this will bring Nepal into a sound picture. Nepal has always been an importing country, but buyer/seller relationships will be strengthened and the new information and panel discussions will help the Nepalese buyers/manufacturers as well.

Wonderful, so a great space for learning, collaborating on opportunities, and allowing people to really see the great things that Nepal is doing with regards to pulse production.

Yes, and also it’s an attractive prospect for our government as it brings lots of people into our country. They spend some money, they have working relationships with our citizens, traders, and industrialists and it’s a win-win for everyone. We are also working with the government to decrease duty to increase consumption, also to restrict illegal imports from neighbouring countries. A lot of government bodies are attending, as well as ministry members from India and Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Dubai. We are also targeting Agri-startups to promote them in Nepal at the Summit, so this will be very useful for the nation and the sector as well.

Excellent, it sounds like a great opportunity for commercial tourism, as well as new growth and education too. What can we expect from Kedia Organisation and Mahabir in the future?

Kedia Organisation is now a de-centralized business conglomerate, it was a very big family, about 60 to 70 members. Right now in our Mahabir Group, we have taken that over from

Kedia Organisation and at the moment we are producing edible oils and manufacturing pulses. I’m also serving as a board member of Siddhartha bank Limited in Nepal, and my father is serving as a chairman for a general insurance company in Nepal. Mahabir Group also started a rice manufacturing unit which is one of the biggest in Nepal right now. We will eventually be concentrating more on knowledge sharing about pulses and their nutritional benefits. From the GPC I learned about World Pulses Day, so we try to go to schools and visit people to make them aware of the specific nutritional benefits of each and every pulse.

Thank you so much for speaking with me and telling us about the Nepalese market and your place in it. Have a great time at the Summit!