More than six decades ago, Duli Chandra Sharda set up a rice mill in Lahan namely Pashupati Rice Mill. It was this rice mill that built a base for the establishment of Sharda Group. Prior to that, Duli Chandra Sharda and his father were Lahan-based small traders who traded in rice, jute, mustard seeds etc. Back then, farmers and traders travelled to India with their paddy. Lack of a rice mill in the Terai region encouraged Duli Chandra to set up a rice mill in Lahan. There was no looking back after that. In the subsequent years, he added three more rice mills in Lahan, three more in other parts of Siraha district and one in Janakpur. They also opened a sugar mill which unfortunately failed but their oil mill business succeeded.
Later, the sons of Duli Chandra, established two rolling mills in Nepal, Everest Iron and Steel Industry in Biratnagar and Hetauda Iron Industries in Hetauda. Following the establishment of the rice mill and iron and steel industry, the family went into more industries such as solvent extraction, oxygen plant and ghee manufacturing and plants. The group manufactured wire and cables, flour, lentil, and noodle and shoe, carpet and grain spirit.
In 2000, Sharda Group, in a joint venture with Jaju Group, established Asian Thai Food which is the producer of noodle brands such as Rumpum, Preeti and 2PM. Twelve years later, the two groups started another joint venture as Asian Biscuit and Confectionary. The confectionary group started producing Goodlife brand of biscuits in 2014.
In 2006, the group entered the cement industry establishing Shivam Cement. In 2017, the group signed a joint venture with China’s Hongshi Group and established Hongshi-Shivam Cement. The joint venture project is valued at USD 359 million and is expected to be operational by 2018. The group has also entered the hydropower sector with Ridi Hydropower while there are other hydropower projects in the pipeline too. The group is a leading promoter at Kumari Bank and is present in NMB Bank and Sunrise Bank too. Pioneer Motocorp, a subsidiary of the group, represents Datsun in Nepal.