Birth: 18 November 1928, Kathmandu

Death: 21 January 2022, Kathmandu

Laxmi Das Manandhar was one of the seven salt traders selected to establish Nepal’s first public salt trading center, the Salt Trading Corporation Limited, in Kalimati, Kathmandu.

Not only a businessman and industrialist, Manandhar was also an educationist and social worker who made significant contributions as a National Assembly member.

Born as the youngest son to Purna Maya Manandhar and Laxmi Narayan Manadhar in Thahity, Kathmandu, Manandhar learned ­to read and write at his uncle’s house and continued his formal education until middle school. At the age of 15, he started working as a telephone operator at a call center in Tripureshwor, Kathmandu.

Coming from a Newar family with a business background, he knew the tricks of the trade early on. In 1950, he visited India and started importing salt to Nepal. He was into the business to sustain his family when the government took notice.

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Manandhar, from the very beginning, aimed at extending salt trading as he knew salt was one ingredient no kitchen is complete without, and therefore, should be easily accessible and affordable. In 1963 the Salt Trading Corporation Limited was established with partial investment of the government and support of other public and private salt traders.

Alongside, he started another small business of importing clothes from Japan to sell them in Nepal. In 1960, this small venture transitioned into Nepal’s first sock-manufacturing company called ‘Badhchap’, helping the country be self-reliant on socks. It had also become a household brand loved by locals.

From 1973-86, Manandhar, through the corporation, established a number of businesses and industries in Bhairahawa such as a petrol pump, Siddhartha Cold Storage, Nepal Plastic Industry, and Siddhartha Food Industry, among others, which are still in operation.

He served as a working committee member of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, an umbrella body of Nepali businesses. He later held the posts of treasurer and adviser of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Business was in his blood but his destiny took Manandhar into politics. He had been indirectly involved with Bampanthi (leftist) politics since 1958. In 1991, he had become a common candidate in the National Assembly election but was defeated. But 10 years later, in 2000, he got elected into the National Assembly representing the CPN-UML.

Besides politics, Manadhar was also an educationist and a social worker. In 1950, he became a founding member of Shanti Siksha Mandir School in Thahity. He also founded and became the Chairman of People’s Campus in Thamel, Kathmandu.

In his lifetime, he traveled to over 40 countries, carrying the responsibility of promoting Nepal. He was honored with several awards from national and international organizations for his efforts.

Manandhar breathed his last on 21 January 2022 at his home in Kathmandu. He was 93. Someone who made a significant contribution to Nepal’s economic development, his legacy will be carried on by the establishments he leaves behind.