Industrialist Banwari Lal Mittal, best known for pioneering commercial helicopter services in Nepal, passed away at his residence in Gyaneshwor on Wednesday. He was 79.

Mittal had returned to Kathmandu on Monday following treatment at Medant Hospital, Gurgaon in India. He is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters.

A leading figure in the Nepali chamber movement, Mittal’s business career started with his family-owned construction and textile businesses. However, it was the aviation sector in which he made a name for himself.

In the 1990s, Mittal ventured out of the family business and entered the aviation sector, establishing Air Ananya with a fully-owned fleet of five MI-17 helicopters when the government launched a liberal aviation policy.

Transporting cargo and essential items like food and medicines to remote areas that lack road transportation, the carrier quickly established itself in the domestic aviation market.

In the late 1990s, Mittal changed the company's name to Shree Airlines and started helicopter pilgrimage tours in Manasarovar, Mount Kailash and Muktinath.

The aviation industry remembers Mittal for his contribution to commercialising helicopter services in the country. “He nurtured MI-17 helicopters in Nepal and ran the industry,” said Birendra Basnet, managing director of Buddha Air. “Even at 79, he was quite active in the Airlines Operators Association of Nepal.”

People who knew Mittal closely remember him as a man of high moral integrity. “The calm, passionate and professional businessman took the helicopter industry in Nepal to a new high,” said Tri Ratna Manandhar, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. "He had a vision for growth, and his managerial and visionary leadership helped his company gain exposure internationally and nationally.”

Today, Shree Airlines is the largest helicopter operator in Nepal with a fleet of six 24-seat Russian-made MI-17 helicopters and four Eurocopter AS350 B3e helicopters. In 2010, Shree spread its wings outside Nepal, flying baggage and equipment for United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Africa.

Mittal was among a group of people who established Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh to provide affordable eye treatment. He has served as chairman of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Marwari Sewa Samiti. He was the founder chairman of the Contractors Association of Nepal and a founder member of Nepal Eye Hospital.