Within a decade, the company that once boasted of pan-India presence with marquee projects is now being hounded by regulators, lenders and homebuyers alike.
After charting a stellar growth path during the 2003-08 boom, the Chandra family-promoted company's fortune took a turn for the worse in 2008 that saw Unitech Wireless, one of the subsidiaries of Unitech, bidding and securing pan-India telecom licence for 2G spectrum.
The same year, Unitech sold over 67 per cent stake in this company to Norway's Telenor for over Rs 6,000 crore for a stake that it had acquired for Rs 1,650 crore under the scandalous first-come, first-served telecom policy.
While the company made a killing by flipping its "investment", it eventually proved to be a thorn in the flesh and continues to trouble the realtor.
In a crackdown followed by the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the 2G scam, Unitech's Sanjay Chandra was arrested along with politicians and other corporates.
Late 2008, after the global liquidity crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the red-hot Indian property market started to wind down. Most realty developers were gripped by a liquidity squeeze, which continued to haunt realtors for years. Unitech's problems worsened with the promoters being in dock for the 2G scam on one side and liquidity issues on the other.
The market cooled off and sales dipped, forcing Unitech to slow down construction due to cash flow constraints. Following this, construction work at most of its projects stalled that resulted in frustrated homebuyers and small investors filing cases.
Like many other real estate companies buoyed by the boom, Unitech too expanded very quickly between 2005 and 2007, and launched multiple projects across the country. But when the cash crunch hit and sales flagged, the projects became a liability.
As things stand today, Unitech's market capitalisation stands at Rs 1,906 crore with the promoters having pledged around 73 per cent of their 17.92 per cent stake in the company.
According to the company's 2016-17 annual report, it has delivered 5.18 million sq ft and has 33.16 million sq ft under development.