Nand Persaud Group
Building Guyana’s Future: The Nand Persaud Growth Story
Ragindra Persaud, Managing Director, Nand Persaud Group, outlines how one of Guyana’s most dynamic conglomerates is expanding across agriculture, machinery, renewables and real estate to drive local industry and support national diversification.
Nand Persaud Group has seen remarkable growth since the founding of its flagship subsidiary, Nand Persaud & Company, in 1992 by Nand Persaud and his sons, Ragindra and Mohindra Persaud. What began as a one-ton-per-hour rice mill beneath the family home has rapidly evolved into a diversified conglomerate and a standout success story within Guyana’s rising private sector, with 12 subsidiaries across agricultural, machinery, plastics and renewables sectors. Ragindra Persaud, managing director of Nand Persaud Group, sees Guyana’s evolving market as ripe with untapped potential: “The local private sector remains small relative to the opportunities on offer. Large firms are established, but there is a dearth of mid-sized companies ready to scale and form joint ventures.”
Nand Persaud Group’s achievements have earned national and international recognition, including accepting the Green Exporter of the Year Award in 2015, the Special Award for Excellence in Service Exports from the Caribbean Export Development Agency and the European Union in 2016 and the National Quality Award from the Guyana National Bureau of Standards for customer focus, manufacturing, and environmental initiatives in 2021. The company is now a firm champion of the Made in Guyana standard mark, which the government launched in 2021 to strengthen national branding.
Known for its flagship brand, Karibee Rice, Nand Persaud & Company has grown its production capacities to eight tons of parboiled rice and twelve tons of white rice per hour and now exports to markets across the Caribbean, North America and Europe. The company currently employs more than 200 people directly and indirectly. The food production arm maintains qualifications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and operates under ISO 22000:2018 standards. To expand its growing footprint, the company launched Amazonia Rice Investment in 2013, a high-quality production and packaging facility designed to serve both local and international rice markets.
In August 2024, Nand Persaud & Company signed an exclusive dealership agreement with China’s FAW Trucks under its Nand Persaud Automotive Department to become the sole distributor of the vehicle brand in Guyana. The move firmly establishes the local conglomerate’s inroads into the nation’s rapidly expanding construction sector, which recorded over 4,500 infrastructure projects in 2024 alone. “Guyana is rapidly building up infrastructure, such as roads, ports, and utilities, which underpins the oil and gas industry and benefits any sector looking to scale rapidly,” said Persaud.
Paired with its existing partnership with Liugong Machinery, the company now offers a comprehensive lineup of loaders, excavators, bulldozers, backhoes, rollers, graders, skid steers, forklifts and a complete line of FAW trucks. Nand Persaud Group also supports Guyana’s agriculture sectors through its established Nand Persaud Agriculture Machinery Department, which supplies heavy-duty machinery and parts, and its Nand Persaud Fertilizers venture, offering affordable fertilizers and pesticides to meet growing market demand.
Nand Persaud Group has also expanded into plastics manufacturing, chiefly through its Plastific venture, launched in 2018. Located in Wellington Park, the facility produces up to six tons of products daily, including plastic bottles, preforms, cups, plates, spoons, storage containers and cutlery. As Guyana’s first manufacturer of plastic storage containers, Plastific stands out for its environmentally conscious approach, using polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate blended with recycled degradable materials to ensure a low carbon footprint and enhanced health safety.
Plastific marks the latest milestone in Nand Persaud Group’s expanding presence in plastics manufacturing, following the launch of Flexotech in 2016 and NPG Packaging and Plastic in 2005. Flexotech supplies polymer products to a broad range of industries across Guyana and the Caribbean Community single market, while NPG Packaging focuses on printing and distributing poly bags, twine, rubber rolls, and plastic bags.
As Guyana advances toward its goal of generating 75% of its energy from renewables by 2030, Nand Persaud Group has also emerged as a domestic frontrunner with the launch of its renewables division, Green Power Solutions, in 2017. ISO 9001:2015 certified, the company provides full-service solar panel installation and maintenance services for homes and businesses, with a clear ambition to become the country’s leading provider of private solar systems. “With power costs expected to drop – likely by around 50% – we will see rapid uptake of electric vehicles and solar installations,” said Persaud.
Capitalizing on Guyana’s surging economy, Nand Persaud Group has also entered the real estate space with the proposed $1.4-billion Mahaica oceanfront development, announced in 2020 in partnership with local counterpart New Trend Auto. The ambitious first phase includes plans for 150 condos, 200 luxury homes, 50 executive residences, a commercial center and a range of upscale amenities on the 1,000-acre site. “The Mahaica Bay project’s scale and ambition signal that Guyana is ready for large, sophisticated developments and that we welcome foreign equity,” said Persaud. “It shows investors that we have the political stability, legal framework and market demand to support premium projects.”