September 12, 2014: Some decades back, watches in India were largely from HMT and it was considered a great gift for several occasions. The brand was highly successful that it was portrayed as the “timekeepers to the nation”. Finally, here comes the time for the era of HMT Watches to end as the company appears to have miserably failed in adapting to the changes that had to be made with time.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the government ofIndiahas decided to close the subsidiary of HMT that has been witnessing losses since the year 2000. The firm has literally lost the battle as the market is getting dominated by the classy private local and global brands.
The report quote a senior government official claiming that the government will be winding down the brand soon, however the payment of salaries and other settlements for the employees have been approved. It is said that the government has decided to shut down HMT Watches and HMT Chinar Watches Ltd. respectively as per the recommendation by the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) and the board of directors.
During the time period between 2012 and 2013, the iconic Indian brand incurred huge losses of Rs 242 crore on revenues of Rs 11 crore. The Public Enterprises Survey data shows that HMT employed around 1,105 employees of which 181 were executives.
On the other hand, the current leading brand Titan has reported a sales volume of Rs 1,675 crore during the same time period.
The machine tool manufacturing unit of HMT was set up in 1950s to meet the demands of the consumers in the nation, whereas the first watch manufacturing unit for the brand was set up inBangalorein partnership with Citizen Watch based inJapan. It was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who released the first batch of watches by the brand.
Though HMT runs of losses now, the company carries the credit for introducing the first Braille watch, automatic day-date watch Quartz, first ana-digi watch and more models. Furthermore, the brand was at the forefront of the battle against the foreign watch brands that were getting smuggled into the country.
