Chaudhary Group (CG), one of the country’s biggest conglomerates, is making a fresh investment of over Rs50 billion in existing businesses in Nepal in the next three years to generate 2,500 new jobs.

The announcement comes at a time when the group’s president Binod Chaudhary has been criticised for not doing enough for the country and its citizens despite being the only Nepali to be listed in Forbes billionaires’ list.

The Forbes magazine had recently ranked Chaudhary as the world’s 1,567th richest person, with a net-worth of $1.31 billion, up from $1.1 billion a year ago.

Although Chaudhary did not clearly state the contribution of Nepali businesses in his fortune, he said “around 50 percent or more should come from Nepal”.

“I’ve proudly promoted myself as a Nepali entrepreneur everywhere I go, and despite having business interests abroad a big portion of my wealth comes from my country,” he told journalists on Monday.

CG, which had exposure in four sectors in Nepal till the 1990s, namely food and beverage, electronics, finance and real-estate, has now expanded its footprint to 16 sectors, ranging from energy, cement, hotels and education.

The group now has stakes in hotels in India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and as far as the US, and is planning to expand to Africa. Today, his most famous food brand, Wai Wai instant noodles, is produced in more than 35 countries across the world.

Moving ahead, CG plans to rapidly increase investments in energy, hospitality and property sectors in Nepal.

“We are ploughing around Rs17 billion into a 60MW storage hydroelectric project,” said CG Managing Director Nirvana Chaudhary, the eldest son of Binod Chaudhary, without naming the project. “We are also channelling Rs2.8 billion in 15.1MW Middle Modi and Rs7.5 billion in 44MW Super Madi hydroelectric projects.”

CG is also planning to invest Rs10 billion in the real estate sector within 2020. These projects, according Nirvana, “assure 20 percent return”. One of these projects includes CG Legend, a multipurpose complex spread on 400,000 sq ft of land in Pulchowk, opposite the United Nations’ office.

CG, which has built a luxury resort in Chitwan, is also eyeing the hospitality sector for future growth. The plan includes addition of 120 rooms in 35-year-old Summit Hotel at Kupondole at a cost of Rs2 billion, completion of Zinc City, a hotel located in Jhamsikhel, through investment of Rs1.5 billion, and construction of Panchakarma, a wellness centre with 18 villas, in Nawalparasi at a cost of Rs500 million.

“We are increasing investments in the hospitality industry, as we know we can take the country’s tourism sector to a new level and put it on the global map,” Binod Chaudhary said.

Other proposed investments include Rs9.4 billion in cement plants in Palpa and Dumbkibas, Rs1 billion in CG Brewery, Rs800 million in Wai Wai plants in Nawalparasi and Sunsari, Rs250 million in Rio juice factory at Nawalparasi and Rs200 million in CG Packaging.

“If we could take these businesses to a new height, we’d be more than happy to list each of them on the stock market so that we could share prosperity,” Chaudhary said.