[3][4][5] 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.

[6] 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.

[8][9] In 1926, Jagannath Goenka founded the Messrs Ramgopal Indraprasad as a commercial firm to deal in food grains at the mandi (product market) in Adampur, Hisar.

He moved the Delhi machinery to Hisar, where he was able to turn consistent profits by selling polished whole grains to Gujarat and South India.

[6][non-primary source needed] In 1967, the business suffered a series of losses, leaving the Goenka family at a net deficit of ₹600,000 (equivalent to ₹32 million or US$370,000 in 2023).

After acquiring a storage contract with the FCI in the same year, Essel established a new subsidiary, Lamina Packers, to manufacture packaging materials.

[6] In 1981, Essel obtained lucrative export contracts for rice and soya beans as a result of Indo–USSR bilateral trade agreements.

[11] Although the park was partly meant to signal that its parent corporation wanted to be a major force in the entertainment industry, EsselWorld had always been unprofitable until its shutdown in 2023.

Siti would provide cable service to customers to expand the reach of Zee's satellite channels.

[20] Essel also had high hopes for another market and more viewers when, through its subsidiary Dish TV, it launched the first direct-to-home television in India on 2 October 2003.

[34] 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.

[39] Dish TV was launched on 2 October 2003 as the DTH provider of the Essel Group and was merged with Videocon D2H on 22 March 2018.

[45] The company was incorporated in 1992 as the Zee Telefilms Limited, the Essel Group's venture into mass media.

[13] In 2006, two subsidiaries of the company were de-merged from the Zee Telefilms Ltd and segregated as distinct ententes under the Essel Group.

[27] As of 2020, the company has suffered successive reduction in revenue and has been subjected to investigative probes by the Enforcement Directorate.

In October 2021, it was reported that founder Subhash Chandra and his son, Punit Goenka together own just 3.99% stake of Zee Entertainment.

[49] On 22 December the board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises approved the merger with Sony Pictures Networks India.

[57] The lottery however ceased operation in 2020, following the sale of assets by the Essel Group for the repayment of pending debts.

[60] On 11 September 2021, Invesco asked Zee management to call an "extraordinary general meeting" (EGM) of shareholders to consider its demands.

[62] Invesco Developing Market Funds Moves to a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the Bombay High Court, seeking a mandatory order for Zee Enterprises Entertainment Limited (ZEEL) to call the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that the shareholder has been demanding.

[63][64] 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.

[67] 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.

[70] On 22 December, board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises approved the merger with Sony Pictures Networks India.