The story
Fauji Foundation was established as a charitable trust in 1954 under the Charitable Endowments Act of 1889. It was established for the welfare of the Pakistan Armed Forces' three branches—Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Army, and Pakistan Air Force—and thus came under the management of the Ministry of Defence. The organization began with an initial paid-up capital of US$3.6 million (Rs 18 million) which it received from British colonial administration for supporting the widows and families of World War II veterans. With the funds it established a textile mill, a cereals mill, and a sugar mill.
In 1960, Fauji Foundation acquired a sugar mill from the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation in Tando Muhammad Khan and later renamed it as Fauji Sugar Mills, Tando Muhammad Khan. It produced sugar under the brand "Crystal". It later also founded a sugarcane research station, named Nukerjee Research Farm.
In 1972, Fauji Foundation acquired a sugar mill in Khoski, Sindh and later renamed it Fauji Sugar Mills, Khoski. It produced sugar under the brand "Shireen". In the same year, Fauji Foundation also acquired a sugar mill based in Sangla Hill from Modern Motors Limited and it produced sugar under the brand "Chandi".
In 1974, Fauji Foundation inaugurated Foundation Gas Filling Plant in Rawalpindi. Later, in December 1974, Fauji Foundation inaugurated its third textile mill with equipment imported from China.
In 1980, Fauji Foundation founded an auto workshop in Rawalpindi, named Fauji Autos.
In 1982, Fauji Foundation incorporated Intec Limited to manufacture communication equipment such as trans-receivers and microprocessor-based PABXs in Pakistan. In April 1982, Fauji Foundation established a polypropylene bag manufacturing plant in Hub, Balochistan with an annual production capacity of 16.3 million. In June 1982, the first plant of Fauji Fertilizer Company in Goth Machi became operational. Also, in 1982, Fauji Foundation acquired Fauji Corn Complex in Jehangira which was originally developed by the Sarhad Development Authority. The project went bankrupt in 2012.
In 1983, Fauji Foundation established Fauji Metals in Rawalpindi to manufacture liquid petroleum gas cylinders with a manufacturing capacity of 7,500 cylinders per month. In May 1983, Fauji Foundation acquired a 40 percent stake in state-owned company, Mari Gas Company.
Fauji Foundation business remained relatively modest in scale until the late 1970s when it began to undergo major expansion. The assets of Fauji Foundation increased from Rs 152 million in 1970 to Rs 2,060 million by 1982, with 29 industrial units.
Read the full text
In 2004, Fauji Foundation sold Khoski Sugar Mill for PKR 300 million despite receiving the highest bid of PKR 387 million. In 2005, a corruption case was filed in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against then managing director Syed Muhammad Amjad who was involved in the corruption.
From 2011 to 2015, Fauji Foundation's assets grew 78 percent.
A 2017 study found that 33 of a group of 141 former Pakistan Armed Forces corps commanders, or 23.4%, were given jobs by the Foundation after their retirement from the military. At any one time, as many as seven former corps commanders serve as either the managing directors of the Fauji Foundation or the Army Welfare Trust or as managing directors of subsidiaries with personnel in these positions rotated out every three years.
From Wikipedia’s article on Fauji Foundation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4