After graduating from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Mr. Yahya Saleem joined the family business as director of the Nishat Chunian Group by setting up a spinning mill in 1990. The company has since diversified into the weaving, home textile, power generation, and entertainment sectors. NCL ranks amongst the top 5 textile companies in Pakistan.

The group ventured into the power business in 2007 with a 200 MW Independent Power Plant (IPP), Nishat Chunian Power Ltd. The IPP provides electricity to the national grid. Both companies are listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange.

Together with his family, he has set up a Trust in the memory of Sheikh Mohammad Saleem which has set up a 200-bed tertiary care not-for-profit hospital in Lahore. The hospital is built to state-of-the-art international standards and provides subsidized health care to the underprivileged section of the city.

In 2015, he started a company by the name of NC Trading USA, which is a Cotton trading company based in the USA and actively sells US cotton to the leading textile mills in Pakistan.

In 2019, he was appointed as CEO and Director of NC Entertainment Private Limited which owns two Multiplexes, widely known as “Universal Cinemas”, including the largest multiplex in Pakistan.