The foundation of Khetan Group was laid by Kishun Ram Khetan (great-great grandfather of Rajendra Khetan) some 170 years ago during the Nepal-Tibet War of 1855-1856. He supplied rice and salt to the Nepali soldiers. After the war, Khetan continued his venture as a trading business. Besides the local business, the Khetan family started importing fabrics from India in 1910. It was Kishun Ram’s son Purna Mal Bihari Lal Khetan who established the Khetan Group. In 1937, the Khetans registered their firm and became one among the first 32 registered companies in Nepal.  His son Mohan Gopal Khetan took the family run business into a new era by stepping into different industrial and business sectors. In 1970, Khetan Group started its first business diversification by exporting jute and lentils. The group in the mid-1970s commenced Bottlers Nepal Limited thereby beginning the bottling and supplying of Coca-Cola in Nepal. Gorkha Brewery is another milestone for the group which was established in 1989 as a joint venture with Danish multinational company Carlsberg Breweries.In 1990, the launch of Tuborg Beer by Gorkha Brewery marked the first international beer brand produced in Nepal. Production of Carlsberg started in 1995. The company since 2004 has been brewing and marketing the Filipino beer brand San Miguel Beer by acquiring Mount Everest Brewery. Khetan Group is also among the business houses that helped foster the BFI sector in Nepal in the 1990s and 2000s. The establishment of the Himalayan Bank Limited in 1993 is an example in this regard where the group partnered with other Nepali business houses and the Habib Bank of Pakistan to form a joint venture. Similarly, the group also stepped into the insurance market in 1994 with the establishment of the Everest Insurance Company. Another major banking venture for the group came in 2002 as Laxmi Bank Limited which was established as the 16th commercial bank in the country. In 2007, Khetan Group initiated Prime Life Insurance Company.  Earlier, Khetan Group had also invested in the aviation sector. It established the Nepal Air Charter Service which is the first private sector airline in Nepal. In 1992, the group commenced Everest Air which was among the major domestic airliners in the early and mid 1990s. In 2000, the group further diversified its manufacturing portfolio by entering into snacksproduction by establishing the Himalayan Snax & Noodles Company in a joint venture with Thai Presidents Foods.