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Essel Group (also known as Zee Group) is an Indian media conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai, India. The group has had business interests in mass media, infrastructure and packaging. Founded in 1926 as the Messrs Ramgopal Indraprasad by Jagannath Goenka, the company was expanded and converted into the Essel Group of Industries by his grandson, Subhash Chandra. Chandra is part of the Goenka (Goel) family which owns and operates the group; he was also the chairman of the company and a former member of the Rajya Sabha.
Experiencing financial troubles in 2019, Essel sold off several of its assets, including Essel Propack and stakes in Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
In 1973, control of the company was handed over to Subhash Chandra, the grandson of Jagannath Goenka.
The company renamed itself the Essel Group in 1976. After acquiring a storage contract with the FCI in the same year, Essel established a new subsidiary, Lamina Packers, to manufacture packaging materials. In 1981, Essel obtained lucrative export contracts for rice and as a result of Indo–USSR bilateral . According to a 2014 estimate, Essel Group's net worth by 1982 was over .
In December 1982, Lamina Packers became incorporated as Essel Packaging, which marked Essel Group's full-blown venture into the packaging industry, with the primary product being the laminated tube units that originated with Lamina Packers. In 1983, the group also began investing in a future amusement park in Mumbai. EsselWorld opened six years later, becoming India's first amusement park. Although the park was partly meant to signal that its parent corporation wanted to be a major force in the entertainment industry, EsselWorld always remained unprofitable, right up to its shutdown in 2023.
In 1994, Essel Group incorporated Siti Cable to be the distribution subsidiary of Zee Telefilms. Siti would provide cable service to customers to expand the reach of Zee's satellite channels.
The company continued to develop entertainment channels that successfully competed with Star India, a Star TV subsidiary. In 1998, Essel/Zee turned to journalism with Zee News, the first 24x7 Hindi Language news channel in India.
In 2000, Zee Telefilms ended its partnership with Star TV by buyout its shares in Asia Today Ltd. Star India was now free to produce programmes in Hindi in an attempt to target local audiences and lure Zee's viewers away.
It was involved in a joint venture with the Dainik Bhaskar Group for the publication of the Daily News & Analysis newspaper but the paper was discontinued in 2019 after suffering loses. The corporation also runs the Zee Institute of Media Arts (ZIMA) which is owned by Zee Learn, the schooling subsidiary of the Essel Group.
The Zee Media Corporation was formerly a subsidiary of the Zee Telefilms Ltd (later renamed to Zee Entertainment Enterprises) and existed under the name of Zee News Limited. It was demerged as a separate company of the Essel Group in 2006. The Zee News Limited was renamed to Zee Media Corporation in 2013.
| Channel | Launched | Language | Category | SD/HD availability | Notes |
| Zee News | 1999 | Hindi language | News | SD | HD version coming soon |
| Zee Bharat | 2017 | ||||
| Zee Business | 2005 | ||||
| Zee 24 Ghanta | 2007 | Bengali language | |||
| Zee Kannada | 2006 | Kannada | |||
| WION | 2016 | English language | HD version coming soon | ||
| Zee 24 Taas | 2007 | Marathi language | |||
| Zee 24 Kalak | 2017 | Gujarati | |||
| Zee Rajasthan | 2013 | Hindi language | |||
| Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand | 2017 | ||||
| Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh | 2017 | ||||
| Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal | 2013 | ||||
| Zee Bihar Jharkhand | 2017 | ||||
| Zee Salaam | 2010 | Urdu language |
| Channel | Language | Category | SD/HD availability | Notes |
| Zee 24 Gantalu | Telugu language | News | SD | |
| Zee Odisha | Odia language | News | SD |
In October 2021, it was reported that promotes have just 6.1% stake left in Siti Networks.
In May 2021, it was reported that promoters' shareholding in Dish TV has fallen to just 5.67% and Yes Bank has become biggest stock owner of Dish TV. The shareholding further fell to 4.04% by 2023.
The company was incorporated in 1992 as the Zee Telefilms Limited, the Essel Group's venture into mass media. It launched its flagship television channel, Zee TV on 1 October 1992. In 2006, two subsidiaries of the company were de-merged from the Zee Telefilms Ltd and segregated as distinct ententes under the Essel Group. Zee News Ltd (later renamed to Zee Media Corporation) became the news broadcasting subsidiary of the group while Wire & Wireless India Limited (later renamed to Siti Networks) became the Cable television company of the group. Following the segregation, Zee Telefilms was rebranded as to Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
Between 2002–2018, the Zee Entertainment Enterprises was involved a joint venture with american distribution brand Turner India for the distribution of channels in India, Nepal and Bhutan. The company was involved in sports broadcasting between 2004–2016. It launched its own private cricket league, the Indian Cricket League which held two seasons between 2007–2009 but the league failed to gain traction. (2025). 9781137275646, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137275646 In 2016, it sold off all its sports broadcasting assets in the venture to Sony.
As of 2020, the company has suffered successive reduction in revenue and has been subjected to investigative probes by the Enforcement Directorate. The Essel Group has divested a part of its shares in the company for the repayment of pending dues, reducing its stake in the company to 22.37% with much of the remaining stake still pledged as collateral to the remaining dues.
In September 2021 ZEEL Announced merger with Sony Pictures Networks India.
In October 2021, it was reported that founder Subhash Chandra and his son, Punit Goenka together own just 3.99% stake of Zee Entertainment.
On 22 December the board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises approved the merger with Sony Pictures Networks India. and now pending for government approval.
The Shirpur Gold Refinery uses the brand name of Zee Gold in a joint venture with the Essel Group for the marketing of the refinery's products; the Essel Group gets royalties of 20% on the net profit for the brand usage. The Refinery recently went public diluting Essel Group's stake to 43.66%.
The group also operated the online lottery Playwin in Sikkim. The lottery however ceased operation in 2020, following the sale of assets by the Essel Group for the repayment of pending debts.
Essel Group had founded and operated Essel Propack until sale of their stake in 2019.
Between 2020 and 2021, Essel Group sold Essel Finance's MSME loan book to Adani Group, and Essel Mutual Fund to Navi Group.
OFI Global China Fund, who also moved the NCLT along with Invesco, remarked at the hearing that the meeting that Zee Entertainment board had conducted on October 1 was just a legal formality and that it is a classic case of Forum shopping.
On 11 October 2021, Invesco wrote an open letter to the other shareholders saying they are disappointed that the leadership of Zee has resorted to a reckless public relations campaign in response to the overwhelming demand from shareholders for leadership changes at Zee network. They had also tried to merge Zee with some other Indian company in early 2021, but the Zee board rejected it.
The Zee Board replied to Invesco's open letter saying they didn't care about the company, and Invesco is not motivated by concerns related to any corporate governance issue, but "by the events that transpired during February-April 2021 pointing Invesco purposed deal with Reliance Industries.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said it proposed to merge all its media properties with Zee Entertainment at fair valuations during discussions in February and March 2021 that US investment firm Invesco helped arrange with managing director and member of the founding family of the media and entertainment company.
On 21 October, the Bombay High Court asked the Zee board to call an EGM as demanded by shareholder Invesco, and counsel appearing for Zee Entertainment said the company will inform the court of the date of the EGM by the morning of October 22.
On 7 December, Invesco heading towards a resolution, Invesco was expected to back the merger deal with Sony as long as the Goenka family does not get any preferential equity.
On 22 December, board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises approved the merger with Sony Pictures Networks India.
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