Newsbytes
  • India
  • Business
  • World
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Auto
  • Lifestyle
  • Inspirational
  • Career
  • Bengaluru
  • Delhi
  • Mumbai
  • Videos
  • Visual Stories
  • Reviews
  • Phone Reviews
  • Fitness Bands Reviews
  • Speakers Reviews
  • Find Cricket Statistics
Hindi
More
In the news
Zomato
WhatsApp
SpiceJet
Reserve Bank Of India (RBI)
Bitcoin
Stock Market
Newsbytes
Hindi
Newsbytes
User Placeholder

Hi,

Logout


India
Business
World
Politics
Sports
Technology
Entertainment
Auto
Lifestyle
Inspirational
Career
Bengaluru
Delhi
Mumbai
Videos
Visual Stories
Reviews
Phone Reviews
Fitness Bands Reviews
Speakers Reviews
Find Cricket Statistics

More Links
  • Videos

Download Android App

Follow us on
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube
 
Home / News / Business News / Bidding adieu: HMT shuts down its last manufacturing unit
Business

Bidding adieu: HMT shuts down its last manufacturing unit

Bidding adieu: HMT shuts down its last manufacturing unit
Written by Vaneet Randhawa
May 02, 2016, 01:39 pm 3 min read
Bidding adieu: HMT shuts down its last manufacturing unit
Credits:

HMT Watches Ltd. announced the shutdown of its manufacturing unit at Tumakuru. The last of 120 employees of Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) in Tumakuru, were handed their relieving letters ironically on the May Day (day honouring workers)as the PSU shut down operations. The Tumakuru unit had manufactured HMT trademarks like the Lalit, Elegance, Sona, and Dipti series of watches.

Introduction
Hindustan Machine Tools forays into watchmaking

The HMT Watches unit was set up in 1961 in Bengaluru, as a PSU in collaboration with M/s Citizen Watch Co., Japan. HMT soon started getting referred as "the timekeeper of the nation". Its first batch of watches was released by PM Jawaharlal Nehru. HMT set up 2 more manufacturing facilities to produce watch components at Tumkur and Ranibagh in 1978 and 1985.

Information
Many firsts in its kitty

The brand once boasted of over 100 million satisfied customers- the HMT watches had "many 'firsts' in its kitty such as India's first Automatic Day-Date watch, first Quartz watch , first Braille watch, first Analogue-Digital watch."

Decline
Why HMT stopped ticking?

The primary reason behind HMT's downfall lay in the fact that the demand for the watches was far greater than the company's technology for the supply. The void it left was occupied by the entrance of Allwyn watches and Titan (Tata's partnership with TIDCO of Tamil Nadu). While the HMT had been the timekeepers to the nation, Titan became "the wrist stylists".

Information
HMT's last bid to keep afloat

In August 2014, HMT Watches began its online sales in August 2014 in an effort to navigate through rough seas but the camapign, 'Keep time with HMT - The timekeepers to the nation', didn't work, forcing HMT to stop production.

7 Jan 2016
Government approves HMT shutdown

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave a nod for the closure of HMT watches by approving a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its workers. The VRS will be given at 2007 pay scales for workers of HMT Watches Ltd, HMT Chinar Watches Ltd. and HMT Bearings Ltd. As per government policy, the company's movable and immovable assets will be dissolved too.

Do you know?
HMT opens shop to complete a pending order

In 2015, the Ranibag (Uttarakhand) unit of HMT Watches was allowed to open briefly to finish an unfinished order of 5,500 watches received from its Bengaluru office.

Tumakuru unit
The HMT Tumakaru manufacturing unit

The Tumakuru unit employed almost 326 employees, was the only factory which was operative of the 4 units of HMT. From 1978 to 2013-14, the once flourishing Tumakuru unit manufactured 3.95 crore watches, worth Rs.1,353 crores. With an initial capacity to produce more than 20,000 watches per month, it was down to producing 3,000 to 4,000 watches and was only taking institutional orders now.

Share this timeline
Facebook
Whatsapp
Twitter
Linkedin
Vaneet Randhawa
Vaneet Randhawa
Mail
Latest
Latest
Canadian Open: Simona Halep downs Coco Gauff to reach semis
Canadian Open: Simona Halep downs Coco Gauff to reach semis Sports
Tata Punch reaches 1 lakh production milestone in record time
Tata Punch reaches 1 lakh production milestone in record time Auto
Afghanistan beat Ireland in third T20I: Key stats
Afghanistan beat Ireland in third T20I: Key stats Sports
Author Salman Rushdie stabbed in New York, airlifted to hospital
Author Salman Rushdie stabbed in New York, airlifted to hospital World
Thames River source driest ever, courtesy intense heatwave in UK
Thames River source driest ever, courtesy intense heatwave in UK World
Next News Article
Next News Article

Love Business news?

Subscribe to stay updated.

Business Thumbnail
India News Business News World News Politics News Sports News Technology News Entertainment News Auto News Lifestyle News Inspirational News
Career News Bengaluru News Delhi News Mumbai News Mukesh Ambani Indian Premier League (IPL) Karnataka Samsung Xiaomi West Bengal
Bihar Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Haryana Narendra Modi Arvind Kejriwal Tamil Nadu Gujarat Yogi Adityanath YouTube
Instagram Hollywood News Uttar Pradesh Kerala Netflix Bollywood News Mamata Banerjee Maruti Suzuki Rahul Gandhi Elon Musk
Shah Rukh Khan Chelsea FC OPPO Akhilesh Yadav Indian Cricket Team Apple Manchester United Salman Khan Cryptocurrency OnePlus
Amitabh Bachchan ICC Women's World Cup Vivo India vs Sri Lanka
About Us Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Contact Us Ethical Conduct Grievance Redressal News News Archive Topics Archive IPL 2022 Schedule IPL 2022 Points Table Find Cricket Statistics
Follow us on
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Youtube
All rights reserved © NewsBytes 2022