HMT Watches to shut down business after 53 years

Once a prized possession of every Indian consumer, HMT Watches, is shutting

shops owing to heavy losses. The iconic brand that was launched in 1961 with a punchline, ‘Timekeepers to the nation’, as a part of the government's efforts to build a modern India, has been suffering losses for over a decade. Finally, the government decided to close the HMT Watches Company, which was restructured in 1999 to revive the brand’s iconic status.

During 2012-13, the loss making public sector company had reported losses of Rs 242 crores on revenues of Rs 11 crores. Data in the government Public Enterprises Survey shows, the company employed 1,105, which included 181 executives. HMT, which had no rivals at the time of its launch in 1961, set up the country's first watch manufacturing unit in Bangalore in collaboration with Citizen Watch Co. In fact, it has many firsts to its credit to boast of, from the automatic day-date watch to the first Braille and quartz watches. However, the entry of several Indian and foreign player in the watch market with new designs and functions as well as modern day production techniques led to the downfall of HMT.