Unitech Ltd was incorporated in the year 1972 by four civil engineers as a soil testing company. The Company is a leading real estate developer in India. The business operations of the company consists of construction, contracts, development of real estate, consultancy and management services, hotels, manufacturing of power transmission and telecom towers. The company is the first developer to have been certified ISO 9001:2000 in North India and offers the most diversified product mix comprising residential, commercial/IT parks, retail, hotels, amusement parks and SEZs.
The company has six segments, namely real estate, construction, transmission towers, consultancy, hospitality and others. The construction activities include construction contracts of highways, roads, powerhouses, manufacturing of transmission lines, refineries and various types of other buildings/structures. Real Estate Development includes development of mini cities/ townships construction of residential and commercial complexes. Consultancy and management services include overseeing of project execution, marketing of real estate ventures for associates and joint ventures. The manufacturing of power transmission and telecom towers in India is carried out through a subsidiary, Unitech Power Transmission Ltd.
In 1975, the company entered into construction activities. In the year 1978, they forayed into the Middle East for construction projects. In the year 1980, they started construction of power projects. In the year 1986, they entered into real estate starting with Gurgaon. Also, they entered into capital market through public issue.
In the year 1995, the company established a joint venture with Hyundai for the transmission tower manufacturing. In the year 1996, they forayed into hospitality with the construction of Radisson Hotel, Delhi. In the year 2003, the company commenced property and facilities management services. In the year 2004, they forayed into amusement parks, namely Adventure Island, Delhi and Worlds of Wonder, Noida.
In the year 2005, the company acquired the remaining stake from Hyundai in the transmission tower manufacturing JV. In the year 2008, the company entered into telecom business through Unitech Wireless. Also, Unitech Wireless received pan-India telecommunication licenses viz. Unified Access Service Licences (UASL), in all 22 telecom circles. The company completed the construction of Gurgaon Central, a retail mall spread over an area of 100,000 square feet.
During the year 2008-09, the company received initial spectrum (4.4 Mhz) in 21 telecom circles. The company and Unitech Wireless entered into a subscription agreement with Telenor Mobile Communications AS, Norway and its subsidiary, Telenor Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore (Telenor), a global telecommunications company wherein Telenor agreed to acquire 67.25% stake in Unitech Wireless. Telenor invested Rs 12.50 billion and acquired 33.5% stake in Unitech Wireless.
During the year, Unitech Wireless entered into an infrastructure sharing agreement with Wireless-TT Infoservices Ltd (WTTIL), the tower arm of Tata Teleservices Ltd and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd (QTIL), under which Unitech Wireless will lease tower infrastructure from WTTIL and QTIL across India to operate their telecommunications business. In addition, Unitech Wireless also entered into an agreement for the provision of transmission services with Tata Teleservices Ltd. Unitech Wireless also placed orders for equipment with Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei and Ericsson and entered into an IT services outsourcing contract with Wipro.
During the year 2009-10, Telenor Asia Pte Ltd. Singapore (Telenor) increased their stake in Unitech Wireless Companies from initial 33.5% to 67.25% by investing a further sum of Rs 48.85 billion. In December 2009, they launched telecom services across 8 circles viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Tamilnadu (including Chennai), Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar Pradesh (West), under the brand name 'Uninor'.
During the year 2010-11, the company launched new projects totaling an area of 10.4 million square feet across different cities in India. Of the total area launched in 2010-11, 3.9 million sq ft was launched in Gurgaon, 2.2 million sq ft in Noida and Greater Noida, 1.4 million sq ft in Chennai, 1.3 million sq ft in Kolkata and 1.6 million sq ft in other cities.
In 2010-11, the amalgamation of two wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company i.e. Aditya Properties Private Limited and Unitech Holdings Limited with the Company and the Demerger of Infrastructure Undertaking of Unitech Limited into its wholly owned subsidiary viz. Unitech Infra Limited was made effective from 01.04.2011.
In 2011-12, the Company launched new projects totaling an area of 7.81 million square feet across different cities in India. Of the total area launched in 2011- 12, 2.23 million sq ft was launched in Gurgaon, 1.58 million sq ft in Noida and Greater Noida, 1.75 million sq ft in Chennai, and 2.24 million sq ft in other cities.
During the year 2012-13, the Company launched new projects totaling an area of 3.98 million square feet across different cities in India. Of the total area launched in 2012-13, 0.44 million sqft was launched in Gurgaon, 2.17 million sqft in Noida and Greater Noida, 0.21 million sqft in Chennai, and 1.06 million sqft in other cities.
During the year 2013-14, the Company launched new projects totaling an area of 5.81 million sq. ft across different cities in India. Of the total area launched in 2013-14, 1.63 million sq. ft was launched in Gurgaon, 2.37 million sq. ft in Noida and Greater Noida, 0.61 million sq ft in Chennai and 1.19 million sq ft in other cities.
0.16 million sq. ft. was launched in Chennai in 2014-15. It launched projects for total area of 1.29 million sq.ft. in 2015-16; launched totaling an area of 2.09 million sq.ft. in 2016-17. The amusement park cum retail area in Noida spread over an area of 147.48 acres got completed in April 2016. KidZania spread over 95000 sq. ft. opened its door in May 2016.