In 1968, the Dewan Family, under the leadership of Dewan Mohammad Umer Farooqui, ably supported by his younger brother, Dewan Salman Farooqui, decided to enter the industrial arena.

The first industrial unit was set up in 1970 under the name and style of Dewan Textile Mills Limited with a capacity of 25,080 spindles which has since been increased to 61,704 spindles. The Group strengthened its footing in the textile field by taking over another textile unit in 1975, now known as Dewan Mushtaq Textile Mills Limited with an installed capacity of 25,776 spindles. Thereafter, the Group established another spinning unit Dewan Khalid Textile Mills Limited, consisting of 26,624 spindles.

By mid of 1980's, the Group with its characteristics of honesty, integrity and determination, became one of the major textile groups in the country. At this stage, the Group decided to diversify its activities to other spheres and entered the sugar industry. In 1987, the Group established Dewan Sugar Mills Limited with a sugar cane crushing capacity of 3,500 metric tons/day which has been gradually expanded to 9,000 metric tons/day, thus making it one of the largest sugar plants of the country. The Mills obtained ISO Certification in 1998.

The Group further diversified its range of business by setting up capital-intensive polyester staple fibre plant under the name and style of Dewan Salman Fibre Limited. The Group's credibility is evident from the fact that Dewan Group was able to obtain the collaboration with the world's giant conglomerates like Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan and Sam Yang Company Limited, Republic of Korea and set up the state-of-the-art plant in 1990.

The Company signed an agreement with Messrs Noyvallesina Engineering, an Italian company, for establishing an Acrylic Fibre and Tow Plant as part of its expansion plan. The Acrylic Plant with an installed total capacity of 55,000 tons per annum commenced commercial production operations from 1st July, 2000. In the first phase, the Acrylic Plant is producing 25,000 tons acrylic fibre. In phase II, the output will be raised by 30,000 tons.

The Group manifested its decision to diversify into automobile industry of Pakistan through the incorporation of Dewan Farooque Motors Limited on December, 1998. Within this month, two more milestones were reached: the signing of Technical License and Exclusive Distributor agreements with Hyundai Motor Company, Korea's No. 1 and world's seventh largest automobile manufacturer.

1999 marked another important year in the history of the Group when Dewan Farooque Motors signed the Technical Collaboration Agreement with Kia Motors Corporation of South Korea, in July, 1999. Hyundai-Kia Together, are now the world's six largest automobile manufacturers.

Dewan Farooque Motors is now a key player in the automobile industry of the country offering an impressive line up of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Its state-of-the-art plant has a capacity of 10,000 vehicles per annum on single shift basis and is equipped with the latest facilities which include CED paint system and robots for the final coat.

June, 2000, marked another important milestone in the history of the Group when its flagship company Dewan Salman Fibre Limited, acquired Dhan Fibre Limited and fully merged and incorporated its facilities into its operations .The total output of Dewan Salman Fibre Limited's 3 polyester units is 700 tons per day. The company today enjoys a market leader's position and commands market share of 60% in the country's fibre industry.