Unitech fires employees, defers projects

Under heavy pressure to repay its mounting debt obligation, real-estate firm Unitech has resorted to cost-cutting by firing trainees and on-probation employees.

Under heavy pressure to repay its mounting debt obligation, falling stock value and to beat negative investor sentiment, real-estate firm Unitech has resorted to cost-cutting by firing trainees and on-probation employees.

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“We have around 100 trainees and employees on probation”, said a highly-placed official of Unitech requesting anonymity.
“We are asking them to leave as our non-residential projects have been deferred.”

Unitech is India’s second largest publicly traded real-estate company in terms of market value. It has 1,800 employees on its payroll and a total 3,000, including its subsidiary companies.

The firm also has deferred its non-residential projects, especially hospitality. When contacted, the company spokesperson declined to comment.

The debt obligation of Unitech stands at Rs 8,400 crore, of which it has to repay Rs 2,700 crore by March 09.

The present market value of the company has eroded to Rs 3,500 crore from Rs 65,000 crore in January.