21. The Tata Family

Do not confuse the Tatas in Pakistan with their name-sake market leaders in India. Having migrated from Nepal Mehboob Elahi started with a tannery in Bangladesh much before 1971 but his five Sons Mehboob lqbal ‘Tata ( Chairman Jinnah Hospital Lahore). Riaz Tata (President FPCCI) Anwar Tata (Former Chairman APTMA), Khalid Tata and ljaz Tate together built 15 odd units, ably supported by the third generation scions like Shahid, Masud and Hasan Tata. Tatas are in textile spinning, weaving, denim, woven, knitwear, leather and energy business. Having annual turnover in excess of Rs 1.5 billion, this Chinioti family too traces its presence in business as early as 200 years from now. Bound in a cohesive bond, each of the Tatas heads a separate unit. The sitting Federation President Riaz Tata heads the Naveena Exports Division and despite having faced some tough times at the top slot in the apex body. Pakistan’s key business leader is holding his throne tightly, though there have been occasions when he (Riaz Tata) seriously thought in terms of vacating office due to business pre-occupation. But the mammoth number of colleagues and friends around him barred him from doing so. The vintage Tatas overall lead unassuming life styles. They love to remain in low key but prove their worth when times demand.

22. The Alam Group

This establishment comprising three leather and two textile units is led by former President Karachi Chamber Shahzada Alam, elder brother of sitting Vice President FPCCI and Senior Vice chairman Pak-USA Business Council Arshad Alam. Messrs Leather Connections, a joint venture with a UK conglomerate, is one of those units managed by this group which happens to be Pakistan’s largest exporter of value-added leather products. While Leather Connections is looked after by Arshad Alam’s son Khurshid Alam, the textile arm of this group is supervised by Faraz Alam son of Shafiq Alam, the youngest Alam brother. The family has also made huge investments in real estate and stocks, within and outside Pakistan. While the younger creed looks after business, the elder Alams give time to their passion of playing ring leaders in the politics of the FPCCI and other business chambers. The group also runs an import/export entity by the name of Continental Traders, besides having recently set sails for investment in media too. Shahzada Alam gained more recognition when he went out airing strong resentment against the involvement of business institutions in country’s politics. The Alams are an eminent Chinioti family in business for the last 150 odd years, known more for dominance in leather sector. COMPASS is the name of the philanthropic school for retarded and disabled children which the Alams operate in Gulberg Lahore sans any external assistance.

23. The Guard Group

The 87-year old Malik Shafi, decorated with Pakistan’s highest civil award, still looks after numerous business entities with complete vigour. Eldest of his four sons is the former LCCI/FPCCI President lftikhar Malik who is also the sitting Chairman of Pak-US Business Council. The Guard Group deals in automotive parts, filters, brake fluids and other vital accessories of motor vehicles. The group has enjoyed monopoly in this business since 1959, when the government servant turned magnate Malik Shaft decided to enter business. Guard Rice, one of the largest exporters of this community around the world, is being run by Shafis youngest son Shahzad Matte who is also holding the slot of Lahore Chamber’s Vice President. The’ other two Maliks-Waqar and Shahbaz control the technical sides of their family business, apart from keeping an eye on this group’s real estate & agricultural land holdings. Maliks are an Arain Punjabi family that also runs a few free hospitals and dispensaries. Malik lftikhar however, is keener with his hobby to be in limelight all the time and is perhaps Pakistan’s most photographed tycoon. While people refrain from coming under camera when they grow in stature, Malik loves operating a Lahore-Islamabad shuttle service to sit next to anyone who is ruling. But then he delivers when needed

24. The Ejaz Group

This establishment owns country’s largest knitwear-cum-dyeing facility at Lahore. More than half a dozen textile units of Ejaz Group are being run by yet another chinioti scion Mian Gohar Ejaz, son of late Senator Sheikh Ejaz. Gohar held the reins of this group very much during his college days when Sheikh Ejaz left for his heavenly abode after protracted illness that lasted months. Gohar is now a noted policy maker at both Federal and Provincial Textile Boards. He is one of the Boards of Governors at the Punjab institute of Cardiology Lahore. People started paying a heed to his leadership abilities in 1997, when he took on the APTMA grey-heads convincingly during the 1997 annual polls and narrowly lost to his opponent in fight for the top slot. Gohar then had led a rebellion comprising promising youth from renowned textile families. Against the hegemony of stalwarts including the likes of Messrs Tariq Saigol, Mansha and Jahengir Elahi etc. His younger brother Mian Faisal Ejaz is the son-in-law of Shahzada Alam Monnoo. He is yet another investor in mutual funds and real estate, though relies more on his obsession i.e the textiles and his passion which is value-addition in this sector. The services Gohar has rendered for creating awareness with reference to value-addition are certainly quite meritrions.

25. The Tabani Family

The Tabanis are also deemed as one of the biggest groups associated with manufacturing, trade, export and import business. They are one of the few Pakistani industrialists holding massive stakes in Central Asian Republics. They own Pakistan’s first private airline-Aero Asia. Yaqoob Tabani is this group’s chairman. The fields of Tabanis’ businesses include counter trade and barter transactions, textiles, fashion garments, leather, tourism, automobiles, shipping, power generation, oil and gas, metals, chemicals, fertilizers, cigarettes, cement and medicines. Tabanis have wings stretched everywhere. You name a business field and Tabanis are there. But despite all the clout it enjoys at the top levels, the family opts to remain modest. Ashraf Tabani, an elder Tabani, has served Sindh’s Governor, Provincial Minister of Finance, Industries, Excise and Taxation between 1981 and 1984. He was appointed Honorary Administrator of the FPCCI during the 1971-1973 periods soon after Bhutto’s Nationalization. Ashraf Tabani has also served as Chairman Employers Federation Pakistan, President Silk and Rayon Mills Association and former Chairman of Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan’s Board of Directors. They are a leading Memon family, also engaged in funding various public welfare schemes. Though scandals can confront any industrial establishment of this size, Tabanis have been fairly lucky in evading them.


26. The Tapal Group

Is headed by Aftab Tapal. The group’s success in tea business has astounded many. The journey of Tapal’s remarkable success is the combined harvest of three generations of this family. In 1947, Tapal started out as a family concern under the supervision of Adam Ali Tapal. Faced with tough competition from very well known tea brands in the market, the Tapals dispelled the common impression that their capital base would soon be eroded. The company grew under Faizullah Tapal, whose son Aftab today brings a lot of innovation and marketing vision to make Tapal a household name. After having lived abroad, Aftab rushed hack home with flourishing ideas and introduced new concepts in the commodity that was first sold at Thomas Garway’s Coffee House in London in 1657. Equipped with latest state-of-the art blending and tea-mixing paraphernalia. Tapal is today Pakistan largest tea company as its consumption runs into millions of cups every month, according to an estimate by this company’s marketing division. In December 1997, Tapal Tea became the first Pakistani of its kind to have attained the ISO-9001 certification. Tapals are also known to have stakes in power generation business. But their tea makes the Tapals known to all. The group claims nearly 1.4 million cups of tea in Pakistan are made of Tapal every hour.

27. The Atlas Group

This group was founded by Yousaf Sherazi, a former Income Tax official and journalist in 1962 with a capital of Rs 03 million only. The first company set by the Atlas Group was Sherazi Investments (Pvt) Limited and since then, there is no looking back. The East Pakistan tragedy, however, nearly crippled Sherazi but he never lost hope and went out forming numerous joint ventures with leading Japanese concerns like Honda. Atlas-Honda today is a name to reckon with in country’s engineering sector and associated with this just one name are hundreds of vendors. He holds stakes in insurance, financial services, information technology, leasing, warehouses, office equipment, motor cars and motorcycle-assembling units, besides running a renowned firm that manufactures batteries. Sherazi owns the Atlas Investment Bank too. The Federal Budget 2004-05 is perhaps the only budget in country’s history that has hit the very influential car manufacturers on the head, otherwise people like Yousaf Sherazi have always managed to dictate terms where it matters. The Atlas Group owns no less than seven companies quoted on the stock exchanges of Pakistan. The group’s assets are believed to have touched the Rs 15 billion mark and so have the sales.

28. The Abid Group

Is run by Sheikh Abid Hussain alias Seth Abid. He is one of the most resourceful developers/builders in the country owning vast stretches of land in major cities. On this land worth many billion of rupees, Seth has constructed residential schemes under the brand name of “Green Fort.” Seth came into this business after decades of notoriety as being one of the spearheads in cross-border smuggling. While many remember Seth for his allegedly illegal trading stints, a lot of informed circles still say with conviction that he, along with Dr.Qadeer and former Premier Bhutto, was the brain behind the success of Pakistan’s nuclear programme. About three dozen of Seth’s very close relatives, friends and nephews are members of country’s bourses and for many years now, the Seth Abid group assumes the role of king-makers during the annual polls of these stock exchanges. He is a leading investor in stocks, metals and currency but what gives him immense pleasure is his philanthropic institution Hamza Foundation that he sponsors for the welfare of deaf and dumb children. Pakistan has not had a single ruler, politician, bureaucrat or Army General who doesn’t know the Seth who is more of a myth for most. The Seth, throughout his life, has avoided publicity-a fact known to most journalists.

29. The Sheikhani Family

They are one of the most reputed land developers in the country. The Sheikhani, although not a very big industrial establishment by any means, are led by Abu Bakar Sheikhani. The Sheikhanis are famous for their construction and land development-related errands. Abu Bakar is deemed to be one of the largest investors in real estate trade at Gwadar Port. He has all the right connections that are required to be in such business. Despite being well known to the national political circles, the man in street knew more of him during March/April 1991 when he surfaced as the single largest contributor to then Premier Nawaz Sharif’s Debt Retirement Fund with a donation of Rs 450 million. Today, his adversaries dub him a land mafia man, alleging him for selling his Gwadar land at only $ 4000 per acre only to senior Army officials while the same was being sold at $ 2,50,000 per acre to ordinary investors. But that is the way Sheikhani runs his vast land/construction empire. Accusations don’t disturb Sheikhani, who according to many large developers is a man who has managed to create tremendous impression in land business. The rumours of his landing in any Pakistani City for land acquisition purposes, helps the price of real estate surge unprecedently overnight.

30. The Dadabhoy Group

Abdul Ghani Dadabhoy was the founder of Dadabhoy group, starting in trade and branching off into the construction business. The group has a big share of cement market in Southern Pakistan. Memons by clan, Dadabhoys are closely related to the Bawanies. Abdul Ghani Dadabhoy had five sons and two daughters, namely Noor Mohammad Dadabhoy, Mohammad Farooq Dadabhoy, Mohammad Hussain Dadabhoy, Abdullah Hussain Dada Bhoy and Ghulam Mohammad Dadabhoy. Daughters are Mrs Mehrunisa Jaffer and Mrs Zaibunisa Tanveer. This Group has massive investments in cement, energy, construction, leasing, polyester, banking and insurance etc. Dadabhoys are seasoned campaigners and perhaps do not like being brought into any sort of reckoning like the Habibs. Despite being a formidable business entity, this family is deemed to be extremely reluctant throughout its history, when it comes to flashing headlines, but mind you these unassuming Dadabhoys are still news-worthy. Any good day, you might hear them doing something new. Stock pundits know a lot more about their past stints at the country’s bourses.