The Nishat Group-run Muslim Commercial Bank. Its owner Mian Muhammad Mansha leads the rich parade in Pakistan

Islamabad, Nov. 16: The number of mega-rich families with huge business empires has risen to 40 in Pakistan over the last few years. The holders of these empires include at least three leading newspaper groups and the Hashwani group of companies, which enjoys a monopoly in the hotel industry.

According to a recent survey, The Nishat Group of Mian Muhammad Mansha is the captain of this splendid ship, having around 30 companies on board.

Mansha, who owns the Muslim Commercial Bank as well as several textile, leasing, investment, cement and insurance companies, is now setting up a Rs 1-billion ($17 m) paper sack project. The Nishat Group was the country’s 15th-richest family in 1970, sixth in 1990 and number one in 1997.

The Jang group of newspapers comes second. Its huge media empire was founded by the late Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman some six decades ago.

Today, around 10 top newspapers and the multi-billion-rupee GEO TV project are being run by Mir Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Mir Khalil’s brainy son, who has a lot of projects relating to real estate under his belt, too.

The third is the Hashoo group. Led by Saddaruddin Hashwani, the group is known more for its dominance over Pakistan’s hotel industry, though it enjoys immense clout in real estate, too.

The Hashwanis are involved in trading of cotton, grain and steel and till the nationalisation of cotton export in 1974, they were widely dubbed the “cotton kings” of Pakistan. Today, this group excels in the export of rice, wheat, cotton and barley.

It owns textile units, besides having invested billions in mines, minerals, hotels, insurance, batteries, tobacco, residential properties, construction, engineering and information technology.

The seeds of the Packages group’s huge empire were sown by Syed Maratib Ali, supplier for the British Army and the Indian Railways before Partition.

The group launched a joint venture with Lever Brothers soon after 1947, but massive production by Pakistan Tobacco Company later prompted Syed Maratib Ali and his sons to install a packaging unit by the name of Packages. The group also acquired several Coca-Cola plants. Its most well-known brands include Nestle Milk Pak, Treet, Mitchells and Tri Pack Films.

The house of Habib owns at least 100 companies across the world, but these mega-tycoons never boast of it, something that has made it difficult for most to estimate their financial standing.

The Saigols established the Kohinoor Textile Mills in 1948 at a cost of Rs 8 million. They bought the United Bank in 1959 and then saw five of their units get nationalised. But they have risen to unprecedented heights in their individual capacities.

The Nawai-e-Waqt group runs two esteemed dailies ? the Nawai-e-Waqt (Urdu) and The Nation (English). It also publishes a few other monthlies and weeklies.

The Saif group is owned and operated by the sons of the famous woman politician, Begum Kalsum Saifullah, from the North West Frontier Province. Her sons Saleem Saifullah and Anwar Saifullah have been ministers in federal governments since 1985. Besides being owners of the country’s largest cell network, Mobilink, they have other business interests all over Pakistan and in many foreign countries.

The history of the Crescent group dates back to 1910 when Shams Din of Chiniot and his four sons entered business with a tannery at Amritsar. This family was allotted 125 acres in Faisalabad in exchange for its leftover property in India.

Crescent has more than two dozen concerns, including numerous textile, steel, sugar, food, leasing, knitwear, software, power, chemical, banking and investment units.

The Monnoo group, a dynasty founded by brothers Dust Muhammad and Nazir Hussain in 1940 at Calcutta, has been a symbol of wealth during the past 65 years or so.

The Dewan group is one of Pakistan’s largest industrial conglomerates in sectors like polyester acrylic fibre, manufacturing and automotives. Six of its companies are listed at the Karachi Stock Exchange and one at the Luxembourg bourse. Dewan Farooqui Motors assembles around 10,000 cars annually under a technical licence agreement with Hyundai and Kia Motors of Korea.

The group owns three textile units, a motorcycle manufacturing concern and the largest sugar unit in the country. The Dewans also have business interests in India.

The Lakson group’s stakes range from media, tobacco, paper, chemicals and surgical equipment to cotton, packaging, insurance, detergents and other household items, many of which are joint ventures with leading international conglomerates.

The Sapphire group owns 11 yarn spinning plants (producing 60,000 tonnes of yarn annually), three woven plants of greige fabric (producing 50 million metres annually), one yarn dyeing plant (capacity 5 tonnes per day), one knitting unit (10 tonnes per day), one knitted fabric dyeing plant (10 tonnes per day), one woven fabric dyeing and finishing plant (1.2 million metres per month) and three power plants having the capacity to produce 40 mw of energy.

The Dawood group; the Best Way group; the Haroon family, which owns The Herald Group of Publications including the Dawn newspaper; the Yunus brothers and the Gul Ahmad/Al-Karam group are some others with stakes in a wide variety of businesses, ranging from textile and machinery to investment and the import of tea and seafood.

The Bawany group; the Servis group of former federal minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar; the Tata family of Pakistan; the Alam group; the Guard group; the Ejaz group; the Tabani family, which owns private airline Aero Asia; the Tapal group with huge clout in the tea business; the Atlas group (of Atlas Honda); the Abid group of Seth Abid, one of the brains behind Pakistan’s successful nuclear programme; the Sheikhani family; the Dadabhoy group; the Bahria Town (Pvt) Limited of Malik Riaz Hussain; the Adamjee group of insurance; Jahangir Siddiqui & Co; the Din group; the Adil group; the Chenab group; the Sitara group; Arif Habib Securities and Kassim Dada also figure on the list of the 40 richest families.