Kathmandu, April 20:

This 32-year-old scion of Nepal’s premier business house, is a complete family man. A father of two, you can catch him enjoying a languid meal, Japanese, Thai or South Indian with his extended family after work rather than pub hopping at night.

A gadget freak to the core, he keeps himself updated with the latest versions of mobile phones and automobiles.

That is Saurabh Jyoti, the eldest son of Padma Jyoti who owns one of the most diverse business empires in the country right from iron and steel to spinning mills, wires, oxygen, yarn to trading in automobiles, farming equipment, pharmaceuticals, finance, travel to cement and hydro-power, to name a few.

His early education at St Joseph’s, Darjeeling followed by industrial engineering and management degrees from Bangalore in India, shaped the entrepreneurial skills of this younger Jyoti who joined the family business in 2000.

Geared with a vision to drive business to new heights, he brought with him a youthful aggressiveness and focus to the Jyoti empire.

Given his penchant for gadgets and automobiles, Jyoti has been heading the electronic division, comprising of the sound and vision gadgets of Philips.

Although mild mannered, his face breaks into a frown when quizzed on the state of youth in Nepal. “The youth will not stay idle. If right opportunities do not come about, they will either move out of the country or get embroiled in non-constructive activities,” he feels.

It is a vicious circle that the country seems to be caught in — unemployment, disenchantment, strife and unrest resulting in poor business activities which in turn leads to low opportunities for employment generation, he explains.

Not one to berate the country merely, Saurabh is providing direction to a bunch of young entrepreneurs with a will to bring about significant changes in the economic fabric of the country.

As president of Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum and the founding trustee and chairman of Nepal Youth Business Foundation, Jyoti hopes to create a new breed of successful entrepreneurs.

“At present NYEF is providing financial assistance of about Rs 50,000 to Rs 150,000 to 15 young entrepreneurs in the country and networking with 22 countries across the globe,” he informs.

The Annapurna Declaration of the recently convened NYEF meet promised to create 50,000 additional jobs in a year. “Once we are able to generate that many jobs, the per capita income of average Nepalis is bound to increase,” he hopes.

The toughest hurdles for businesses in Nepal, he acknowledges, is insecurity followed by strikes and demonstrations. But as an optimist, Jyoti is convinced that the country is at the threshold of significant changes.

“Given our country’s immense potentials in hydro-power, tourism and ancillary industries catering to the two neighbouring economic powers of India and China, we can certainly effect a great turnaround in the Nepali economy,” he feels.

Talking about Jyoti group, Jyoti informs that the group’s ventures in iron and steel, hydro-power and pharmaceuticals would be given special importance.

Being the second largest source of hydro-power in the world, Nepal has the potential of generating about 80,000 MW of hydro-power, half of which is commercially viable, he comments.

“Very soon we will be exporting power to India rather than buying it from them,” feels Jyoti. That conviction probably explains why the group recently acquired 11 per cent stake in the Butwal Power Corporation (BPC) which has Padma Jyoti as its chairman.