Videocon Industries Limited is an Indian multinational
conglomerate, headquartered in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
. The group had 17 manufacturing sites in
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
and plants in
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater Chin ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
. It was the third largest
picture tube manufacturer in the world
valued at 5.5 billion.
The company stopped trading and entered corporate insolvency proceeding in June 2018. In June 2021,
NCLT
The National Company Law Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies. The tribunal was established under the Companies Act 2013 and was constituted on 1 June 2016 by the government of India an ...
approved
Vedanta Group's bid to take over Videocon, paving way for the new ownership.
Early years
In 1985,
Aurangabad
Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...
based Nandlal Madhavlal Dhoot founded and incorporated Videocon International with a goal of manufacturing 1
lakh
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ...
TV sets per year. "''Videocon became the first company to bring colour TVs in India''," claims Anirudh Dhoot, the founder's grandson (
Venugopal Dhoot's son) and Videocon's current director.
Corporate profile
The Videocon group's core areas of business are
consumer electronics
Consumer electronics or home electronics are Electronics, electronic (Analogue electronics, analog or digital electronics, digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for ...
and
home appliance
A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation.
Appliances are divided into three t ...
s. They diversified into areas such as
DTH,
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may ...
and
oil exploration
Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun ...
.
Consumer electronics
In India, the group sold consumer products like
colour televisions,
washing machine
A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and ...
s,
air conditioners
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
,
refrigerators,
microwave oven
A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce ...
s and many other home appliances, through a multi-brand strategy with the largest sales and service network in India.
Since the entry of Korean Chaebols and their rising popularity in the Indian market, Videocon from a stand-point of market leader has seen a slow decline to become a no. 3 player in India. The company continued to do well in the washing machine and refrigerator segment.
Mobile phones
In November 2009, Videocon launched its new line of mobile phones. Videocon has since launched a number of handsets ranging from basic colour FM phones to high-end Android devices. In February 2011, Videocon Mobile Phones launched the hitherto unknown concept of 'Zero' paise (1
paisa
Paisa (also transliterated as ''pice'', ''pesa'', ''poysha'', ''poisha'' and ''baisa'') is a monetary unit in several countries. The word is also a generalised idiom for money and wealth. In India, Nepal, and Pakistan, the ''Paisa'' currently equa ...
is the 100th unit of 1
Indian Rupee
The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use wher ...
) per second with bundled
SIM cards of Videocon mobile services for 7 of its handset models. In July 2015, Videocon Mobiles launched its own flagship smartphone Videocon Infinium Z51+ in India. On 7 June 2016, Videocon Mobile launched its new smartphone 'Videocon Cube3 V50290' in India.
Videocon Petroleum had 25% stake in
Ravva oil field which is operated by
Cairn India in
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...
.
Acquisition of CPT arm of Thomson SA
Videocon acquired the colour picture tube (CPT) businesses from
Thomson S.A.
Vantiva SA, formerly Technicolor SA, Thomson SARL, and Thomson Multimedia, is a French multinational corporation that provides creative services and technology products for the communication, media and entertainment industries. Vantiva's headq ...
of France having manufacturing facilities in Poland, Italy, Mexico and China along with support research and development facilities in the fiscal year 2005.
Decline
In 2018, following losses in its oil businesses, the company entered insolvency proceedings.
Controversy with ICICI loan fraud
On 4 October 2018,
Chanda Kochhar
Chanda Kochhar ( Advani, born 17 November 1961) is the former managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank. Due to a case of conflict of interest, she resigned from her position in 2018. Subsequently, she was fired by I ...
, the ex MD and CEO of
ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian Private bank. It is headquartered at Mumbai. It offers a wide range of banking products and financial services for corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and specialized subsidiari ...
had to step down from her position following allegations of corruption in sanctioning loans to Videocon.
Amidst investigations related to
Videocon
Videocon Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The group had 17 manufacturing sites in India and plants in Mainland China, Poland, Italy and Mexico. It was the third largest picture tube manufactu ...
bad loans, she was forced by the board of
ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank Limited is an Indian Private bank. It is headquartered at Mumbai. It offers a wide range of banking products and financial services for corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and specialized subsidiari ...
to take indefinite leave. The
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governme ...
named Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar as beneficiaries in the financial fraud.
Venugopal Dhoot
Venugopal Dhoot (born in Mumbai, India) is an Indian businessman. According to ''Forbes'' magazine, his wealth in 2015 was $1.19 billion, the 61st richest person in India. He is the founder, chairman and managing director of Videocon.
Controver ...
, the promoter of Videocon had fraudulently transferred part of the loan received from ICICI Bank to the Kochhars' business entreprise after Chanda Kochhar,
Sandeep Bakhshi became the full time Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank.
See also
*
Onida Electronics
Onida Electronics (formerly Mirc Electronics) is an Indian multinational electronics and home appliances manufacturing company, based in Mumbai. Onida became well known in India for its colour CRT televisions and smart TVs. Other appliances m ...
*
Moser Baer
Moser Baer was an Indian multinational manufacturer of optical discs, storage devices, CDs, DVDs, based in New Delhi. The company was present in over 100 countries, serviced through 15 marketing offices and representatives, and had tie-ups w ...
*
BPL Group
*
Sansui Electric
was a Japanese manufacturer of audio and video equipment. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it was part of the Bermuda conglomerate (from 2011).
The company was founded in Tokyo in 1947 by Kosaku Kikuchi, who had worked for a radio parts distr ...
References
External links
Official website* videocon d2h special offers
https://www.d2h.com/recharge/recharge-details-chatbot?customerid=196534943&amount=323&packageid=0&offer
{{Electronics industry in India
01
Electronics companies of India
Internet service providers of India
Mobile phone companies of India
Mobile phone manufacturers
Mass media companies based in Delhi
Economy of Aurangabad, Maharashtra
Indian companies established in 1979
Mass media companies established in 1979
Telecommunications companies established in 1979
Indian brands
Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India
Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange
Home appliance manufacturers of India