A watch making company was born in India in 1961. In fact, that year Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) tied up with Citizen Watch of Japan to manufacture the watch. The country’s first watch making factory was established in Bangalore. HMT has been manufacturing machine tools for the manufacturing sector since last 8 years. As soon as the watch was made, the identity of HMT became household. The company’s first watch was launched by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Within a few years of starting the operation, a house-to-house identity was created
The demand for HMT watches increased so much that it became difficult for the company’s plant to meet them. After this many plants were set up. For the first few decades, the company made basic mechanical watches. Later automatic watches started being made. For nearly four decades, HMT was recognized as the ‘Timekeepers of the Nation’. At that time it had control of 90 percent of the market. It competed with watches like the Timestall and Allwyn. Some imported watches were also in the market.
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The company used to tie people with the strings of emotions
HMT had named the models of watches in such a way that people were bound by the strings of emotional relationships. Janta, Tarun, Nutan, Priya, Nishat and Kohinoor. These were names that lived on people’s tongues, because they were part of the people’s family or neighborhood. By the time the liberalization started, HMT was manufacturing around 7 million watches a year.
HMT forgot to recognize the change in time
Then the company failed to sense the mood of the new generation. This generation wanted watches that would offer something more with the passage of time. In 1987, the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) formed a joint venture, Titan. Initially, it failed to break into HMT’s market share. But, it understood the importance of quartz watches.
The company lags behind on the technology front
The special thing is that HMT was selling quartz watches for the last five years. But, their prices were high. They didn’t sell much because of this. That’s why HMT decided not to focus on that. But, quartz technology was gaining momentum outside India. Then, in 1985–86, the government relaxed restrictions on the import of parts needed to make quartz watches. This is where HMT’s great timing began to deteriorate. On the other hand, Titan’s good times started.
2016 locked forever
HMT remained in the ground. However, the charm of his watches began to wear off. They looked old-fashioned in appearance. Then the company made no effort to establish itself in the market. By the 1990s, HMT’s market share had declined significantly. This continued till 2016. Then the government took the decision to lock its last plant. By then, the debt burden on it had increased to Rs 2,500 crore.
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