01
Founders
1896–1940s — apprentices to named foundry on Brandreth Road.
Heritage
How the group
was shaped
From two apprentices in a Lahore crucible shop to seven factories serving five continents — four generations, one conviction: make it properly, make it heavy, make it here.
Est. 1896 · Lahore
The beginning
Heritage that still pours daily
The group’s history traces to the early 1890s. Foundry roots were formally set with Qadri Foundry in 1905. Through independence and the industrial decades that followed, a family workshop grew into specialised factories — casting, forging and machining.
Today the fourth generation leads a group whose components run in sugar mills, cement plants and industrial facilities across Pakistan and export markets.
0+
Years
0
Generations
0
Factories
Four generations
One trade handed down
Each generation deepened the craft — from sand moulds and drainage pipes to heavy mills, cement wear parts and global partnerships.
02
Builders
1947–1970s — railways, Karachi SITE, nation’s largest jobbing foundry.
03
Refocus
1978–1990s — back to foundry & plant; heavy machining arrives.
04
Global
2012–today — seven factories, world partners, export leadership.
Timeline
Milestones that built Qadri
Scroll — the orange line fills as the story moves from the first workshop to today.
1896
Founding
Two apprentices, one trade
Brothers Hussain Bukhsh and Karim Bukhsh apprentice at Baba Azeem’s crucible-melting shop in Lahore — melting swarf in graphite crucibles and pouring small tools in sand moulds. When he passes away, he leaves the business to the two apprentices.
1910
Named
Qadri Foundry takes its name
Casting iron drainage pipes — many still visible on old Mall Road façades decades later. By the late 1920s, premises near Brandreth Road, Lahore’s steel hub.
1947
Nation
Railways & a new nation
Work for railways through WWII and after independence drives growth and technical upgradation. The family expands with metallurgical foundries in Lahore and Karachi as Pakistan industrialises.
1956
Scale
Country’s largest jobbing foundry
Qadri Brothers Foundry established in Karachi SITE — Pakistan’s first organised industrial estate. Capable of casting 10–11 tons of iron in one piece, later adding steel casting and induction melting.
1965
Steel
Into commercial steel
Steel rolling at Badami Bagh, Lahore; steel melting in the 1970s; Qadri Manufacturing Corporation at Sheikhupura in the early 1980s — a new commercial steel chapter.
1978–87
Refocus
Third generation refocuses
Leadership concludes the family’s true strength is foundry technology and plant manufacture — not commercial steel. Becomes major castings supplier to Siemens-Pakistan and a key source of sugar mill spares.
1988–98
Machines
Heavy machining arrives
Expansion in melting capacity and heavy machining — machines imported from the United Kingdom to set up a dedicated facility for large parts and a growing market.
2012
Reach
Eight companies, global reach
Sophisticated foundry and machining capability, 1,200+ employees, technology collaborations with world leaders, and leadership in sugar plant and equipment — moving toward significant export growth.
Today
Fourth gen
Four generations on
The fourth generation leads a group whose engineered components run in sugar mills, cement plants and industrial facilities across world markets — still built on the foundry conviction of 1896.