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Bashundhara Group LTD () is a Bangladeshi conglomerate based in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
. It was incorporated in 1987 as a real estate company under the name East West Property Development Ltd (EWPD). It presently owns more than 50 major concerns throughout Bangladesh. The company's import-export turnover was $1.12 billion or BDT 111.38 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year. In the 2018 fiscal year, the company's real estate holdings amounted to BDT 50,000 crores, or $4.6 billion.


History

Bashundhara Group, founded by
Ahmed Akbar Sobhan Ahmed Akbar Sobhan (আহমেদ আকবর সোবহান; born 15 February 1952) is a Bangladeshi business magnate. He is the founder of Bashundhara Group, which operates in the real estate, cement manufacturing, paper, and media sect ...
, began in 1987 as a real estate venture. After its first project, Bashundhara invested in new fields, including manufacturing, industry and trading. More enterprises were established in the early 1990s; these included cement, paper, pulp, tissue paper and steel production, as well as LP Gas bottling and distribution. Bashundhara received permission from the
Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority The Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority or BEZA () is an agency of the government of Bangladesh tasked with developing special economic zone, special economic zones. History The Bangladesh Economic Zones Act of 2010 created the Bangladesh Econ ...
to set up two specialized economic zones in
Keraniganj Keraniganj () is an upazila of Dhaka District in the division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. History It is believed that during the reign of Nawab Shaista Khan the ''paik-peyada'' and clerical staff (''kerani'') of the Nawab used to live on the other s ...
,
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
, Bangladesh. In 2013, Bashundhara invested $181 million in the food sector, producing flour, wheat, red meat, etc. In 2020, Bashundhara invested $143.7 million to build the largest bitumen plant in Bangladesh. In the same year, Bashundhara became involved in the coal trading market, with a notable example of supply 8 million tonnes of coal to the Rampal coal-fired power plant. In 2021, Bashundhara invested $909 million to create an oil refinery on 220 acres of land in the
Sitakunda upazila Sitakunda ( ''Shitakunḍo,'' ) is an upazila in Chattogram District of Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. It includes one urban settlement, the Sitakunda Town, and 10 unions. Sitakunda is the home of the country's first eco-park, as well as ...
of the country's port city of
Chattogram Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...
. In 2022, Bashundhara invested $546 million into creating Bangladesh's first gold refinery on 470 acres of land near the Dhaka-Purbachal highway In the same year, Bashundhara Multi-Steel Industries invested $395 million for phase-1 of a steel manufacturing plant at Bashundhara Industrial Economic Zone at Bangabandhu Shilpa Nagar in Chattogram. The phase-2 investment of $727 million will be initiated in 2025, bringing the company's annual steel production to 3 million tonnes. Later, in 2022, ABG Limited, a concern of Bashundhara group signed an agreement with the Chittagong Stock Exchange to acquire 25% of its shares for BDT 240 crore in line with the country's demutualisation act. In 2023, Bashundhara Telecommunications Limited submitted a proposal to the Post and Telecommunications division of the country to become a strategic investor of the struggling state owned carrier TeleTalk. The proposal outlines a plan to develop the network, enhance customer service and upgrade the systems of TeleTalk, which has made losses in all but the first two years of its 19-year-existence.


Enterprises

Bashundhara Group operates over 50 companies. Notable companies include: *
East West Media Group East West Media Group PLC is a media conglomerate located in Bashundhara Residential Area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is a subsidiary of Bashundhara Group. Mostafa Kamal Mohiuddin is the chairman of the Media Group. Novelist and former editor of Kale ...
*
Bashundhara Kings Bashundhara Kings () is a professional football club based in Bashundhara Residential Area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top tier of the Bangladesh football league system. The club was established i ...
*
Rangpur Riders Rangpur Riders (), is a professional franchise cricket team based in Rangpur. The Riders compete in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the premier cricket league in Bangladesh. This team took part in 2024 Global Super League and became the cha ...
*
Kebab Turki Baba Rafi PT Baba Rafi Indonesia, d/b/a Kebab Turki Baba Rafi (abbreviated as KTBR) is the world's largest chain of kebab shops, which operates more than 1,300 outlets in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Headquartered in Indonesia, the business b ...
(Bangladesh)


Bashundhara City

Bashundhara City Bashundhara City (), often marketed as Bashundhara City Shopping Complex or Bashundhara City Shopping Mall, is a shopping mall in Dhaka. The mall is located in Panthapath, near Kawran Bazar, and was opened to the public on 6 August 2004. The ...
() is a shopping mall in Dhaka. Construction began in 1998; Mohammad Foyes Ullah and
Mustapha Khalid Palash Mustapha Khalid Palash (born 11 September 1963) is a Bangladeshi architect, artist, singer and painter. Palash is proficient in several instruments. Early life and education Palash was born to artist Afroz Mustapha (d. 2018). Palash has been ...
of Vistara designed the building. Opened to the public on 6 August 2004, the mall is located at Panthapath, near Karwan Bazar, in Dhaka city and cost over $100 million to complete. Bashundhara City is 21 stories tall, of which 8 are used for the mall, which houses fashion houses and jewelry shops, as well as around 100 food outlets. The mall has experienced two fires. The first fire occurred on March 13, 2009, resulting in the deaths of 7 people and injuries to 20 others. The second incident, which took place in 2016, did not result in any casualties.


Bashundhara Residential Area

Bashundhara Residential Area Bashundhara Residential Area, or simply Bashundhara, () is an upscale residential and semi-business neighbourhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Described as a "city inside a city," the area is the largest private real estate project in Greater Dhaka. ...
, or simply "Bashundhara", () is a residential and semi-business neighbourhood in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
, Bangladesh. Described as a "city inside a city," the area is the largest private real estate project in
Greater Dhaka Greater Dhaka (''Bengali'': বৃহত্তর ঢাকা) is the Megalopolis including and surrounding the Bangladeshi capital city of Dhaka, which has grown into one of the world's largest megacities, and shows a very rapid rate of expans ...
. It is owned and operated by East West Property Development Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Bashundhara Group.


Media ventures

In 2009, the group launched East West Media Group Ltd., which now operates several major media outlets in Bangladesh. These include two television channels, one FM radio station, an online newspaper, and three print media publications. The Bengali-language national daily newspapers owned by East West Media Group are ''
Kaler Kantho ''Kaler Kantho'' () is one of the most popular Bengali newspapers in Bangladesh. It is a part of East West Media Group, which is a part of Bashundhara Group. The same group owns ''Bangladesh Pratidin'', '' Daily Sun'', News24, Banglanews24, ...
'' and ''
Bangladesh Pratidin ''Bangladesh Pratidin'' () is a Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh. It was founded on 15 March 2010. ''Bangladesh Pratidin'' tops the list of highest circulated dailies in the country out of 345 newspapers published from Dhaka and el ...
''. The group also publishes the English-language newspaper ''
Daily Sun The '' Daily Sun'' is the largest daily newspaper in South Africa. ''Daily Sun'' may also refer to the following newspapers: United States * ''Arizona Daily Sun'', Flagstaff, Arizona * '' Bowdoin Daily Sun'', Connecticut, published by Bowdoin Coll ...
''. Additionally, the online news portal
banglanews24.com Banglanews24.com is an online news portal in Bangladesh. The website, along with the ''Daily Sun'', ''Bangladesh Pratidin'', and ''Kaler Kantho'', are owned by East West Media Group, a concern of the Bashundhara Group. Alexa ranked the website 2 ...
provides content in both Bengali and English. The television channels owned by the group include
News24 News 24 may refer to: * News 24 (Albania), a 24-hour news television channel in Albania *News24 (website), a South Africa-based news website * Rai News24, a 24-hour news television channel in Italy *BBC News 24, now known as BBC News, a UK 24-hour n ...
and T-Sports, while
Radio Capital Radio Capital is an Italian private radio station, was founded in May 1977 and is owned by the Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (ultimately by EXOR owned by the Agnelli-family) and began broadcasting in 1985. Broadcast FTA on Hot Bird, on SKY It ...
is its FM radio station.


Legal issues

In October 2007, Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, his wife Afroza Begum, and their four sons were sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of tax evasion. During the 2006–08 political crisis in Bangladesh, while in London with his family, Sobhan handed over the power of attorney for Bashundhara Group to a nine-member committee. Under this committee’s management, the company paid over Tk 220 crore to the government as compensation for previously evaded taxes. This decision was made against Sobhan’s wishes, prompting him to later revoke the power of attorney for four members of the committee. Sobhan and his family also faced allegations of amassing approximately Tk 107 crore beyond their known sources of income, illegally acquiring Tk 606.66 crore, and concealing wealth worth Tk 14.17 crore. The charge sheet noted that around Tk 500 crore was regularized under the government's money whitening scheme. In 2025, A Dhaka court ordered the freezing of shares and bank accounelonging to Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and his family members, following a petition by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The court directive froze shares worth around Tk 14.59 billion across 22 listed companies, as well as Tk 198 million and USD 10,538 that remained in 70 bank accounts. These accounts, held under the names of Sobhan, his four sons—Sayem, Sadat, Sanvir, and Safwan Sobhan—and their wives, had previously received total deposits of Tk 20.75 billion and USD 192,034, which were largely withdrawn. The ACC was investigating allegations of wealth accumulation beyond known sources and suspected money laundering, both domestically and abroad. The freezing order was issued under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012. On 16 May 2025, a Chattogram court sent a Bashundhara Group official, Mohammad Foyez, to jail in a case involving an alleged attempt to evade over Tk 50 crore in port storage charges by submitting a forged letter from the Ministry of Shipping. According to the case statement, 109 containers (equivalent to 214 TEUs) imported by Bashundhara Multi Steel Company Limited were awaiting release at Chattogram Port, and Foyez, along with unidentified accomplices, tried to fraudulently secure a 60% waiver on charges payable to the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA). He allegedly used a mobile number registered to Enamul Karim, Director (Transport), and sent the fake letter with a forged signature of ministry official Nazrul Islam Azad. The Ministry later confirmed that no such letter had been issued. The court ordered police to produce Foyez again on 19 June 2025. On 16 June 2025, Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sent a formal letter to the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) requesting the seizure of assets belonging to Bashundhara Group's Vice Chairman Shafiat Sobhan (Sanvir) and Co-Chairman Sadat Sobhan..


See also

*
List of companies of Bangladesh Small, medium and large family owned conglomerates dominate over Bangladesh's economy. Most of these businesses in Bangladesh are grouped as conglomerates unlike other countries. Notable firms This list includes notable companies with primary h ...
*
Bashundhara Kings Bashundhara Kings () is a professional football club based in Bashundhara Residential Area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top tier of the Bangladesh football league system. The club was established i ...
*
Bashundhara Kings Women Bashundhara Kings Women () is a Bangladeshi women's football club affiliated with Bashundhara Kings. The team plays Bangladesh Women's Football League. Though the name of the club is Kings, it's a women's team. History Inception On 7 Septem ...


References


Sources


Bashundhara Group Profile
''Bashundhara Group Profile''
Bashundhara Group - Business Profile - BashundharaGroup , PRLog
''Bashundhara Group PR''
Bashundhara group overview
''Bashundhara Group Overview Slide''
সমাজ-রাষ্ট্রকে প্রযুক্তিসমৃদ্ধ করতে চায় টগি সার্ভিসেস: সাফওয়ান সোবহান


External links

* {{Official website, http://www.bashundharagroup.com/ Real estate companies of Bangladesh Conglomerate companies of Bangladesh Manufacturing companies established in 1987 Conglomerate companies established in 1987 1987 establishments in Bangladesh Food and drink companies of Bangladesh