Today, Ambe Group has grown into one of the largest business conglomerates in Nepal with annual revenues topping US$ 300 million in 2020-21. More than 4,000 people are employed in nearly a dozen subsidiary companies with business verticals including real estate, manufacturing, banking/finance and trading. Ambe Steels alone accounts for over 40% of the annual turnover.
“Our goal is to become the number one steel brand of Nepal,” says Shiwaj Neupane, Director of the Ambe Group. “We have the strongest market presence in West Nepal and positioned ourselves among the top two players in overall Terai market,” he continues, “We are now focusing our attention to ensure increased market share in the Kathmandu Valley.”
Leading the Industry
The Ambe Group has a 40-year history of success, enormous experience, professionalism and enthusiasm. After leading Nepal’s international trade industry for over two decades, the Ambe Group began to diversify in 2004. The group established Ambe Cement with its first manufacturing unit in Parwanipur of Parsa district.
The major focus of Ambe Group today includes companies namely Ambe Steels, Ambe Cement, Riddhi Siddhi Cement and Shaurya Cement.
Ambe Steels
Founded in September 2009, Ambe Steels is Nepal's largest steel manufacturing company with a capacity to produce 1400 metric tons of steel on a daily basis. It started operations in Gonaha VDC near Bhairahawa and manufactures TMT steel bars along with other steel products using Germany developed GmbH (HSE) Thermex Technology.
The company also produces GI Wires and Gabion box. Ambe Steels products have been used in various prestigious projects of Nepal such as Parliament Building (Singha Durbar), Dharahara (Sundhara), Bir Hospital, Nepal Rastra Bank, Dry Port at Chobhar, Nagdhunga Tunnel Project, Super Dordi Hydropower and Sanjen Hydroelectric Project to name a few.
Taking the Baton
Shiwaj Neupane, who is also the son of Group Chairman Shovakar (Hari) Neupane, finished his undergraduate studies from the United States in 2014. He visited Nepal only for a break after completing his education but decided to stay back in the country. “I started working as a manager at our Bhairahawa plant,” he recalls, “I had the opportunity to work closely with everyone at the factory and the experience provided me insights into people management.”
Neupane eventually worked up the ladder to become the Managing Director of Jay Ambe Steels, the Nepalgunj-based steel plant. The company is now more acceptable towards fresh ideas and innovative style of working under his able leadership. “I believe the motivation factor is vital to make people perform to their best capacities. We have ensured that the factory employees are provided with great facilities.”
Neupane says that he had to come across challenges from within the company as regards his many decisions, “There are times when I had to answer queries on investment choices. However, I enjoy such challenges and vindicate my stand saying I make investments when I see opportunities.” He adds that the investments he made have been rewarded well not only in terms of increased revenue but also in enhancing brand value and ensuring brand recognition among the end consumers.
Even setting up the second plant, Jay Ambe Steels, in Nepalgunj created doubts in many minds. “People thought that it was an extraordinary move and I was playing a huge gamble. There were doubts about the location of the plant, however, I was proved right as the Nepalgunj plant enabled the company to enjoy a stronghold in the market,” he says.
Challenging times
Neupane says the domestic construction market is unpredictable. He believes that the market experiences frequent changes due to the fluctuating prices of raw materials. “Another major problem is that many businessmen were lured into this market in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake,” he laments, “The oversupply in the market made things difficult for the existing players as well.”
Such circumstances did not deter him though. “We were unable to meet the high demand following the earthquake so we moved forward with our expansion plans,” he adds, “Jay Ambe Steels at Nepalgunj has the capacity to produce 1000 tonnes of steel every day. We can produce 400,000 tonnes of steel yearly if it so requires.”
Aggressive Branding
Ambe Group has heavily invested in its branding exercise for the last couple of years. “When most people were cutting down on media planning as a cost saving measure, we did exactly the opposite,” says Neupane, “I thought it was just the right opportunity for us to register more visibility as everybody else stopped advertising by citing pandemic as the reason.”
The group has significantly increased its advertising footprint on television channels as well as digital media in the past few years. Of late, it has also invested in outdoor advertising in a big way. “We continued with our marketing efforts during the Covid-19 period too and it has paid off well,” he adds.
“Our fortunes improved dramatically ever since we began to feature the famous MaHa Jodi (Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya) as our brand ambassadors,” says Neupane, “Bringing the MaHa Jodi onboard for our marketing campaigns worked wonders for us. We were able to develop and maintain a positive connection with our consumers due to enhanced market perception overall.”
The way forward
Neupane reiterates that the prime focus of his company at present is to make inroads into the Kathmandu Valley market. “I am going to personally drive the sales operations. If we can grab a sizeable market share in the valley, it will support my ambition to establish Ambe Steels as the number one steel brand in the country,” he says.
He believes that there is tremendous potential in him to explore as a businessman and the wealth of experience he has gained at the Ambe Group will definitely help.
