HMT watches to stop ticking

Saddled with losses, three stores in Hyd are caught in a time warp of sorts

Hyderabad: Time is running out for the ‘time keeper of the nation’. Three stores run by the once famed Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) Limited at Moula Ali, L B Stadium and Balanagar, in all probability, will cease to exist soon. The Department of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises last week decided to close the company due to heavy losses.

All the three stores together make sales of Rs 3 lakh per month. “Lack of advertisement, inability to give credit to dealers and not being able to bring out newer designs have hit HMT badly,” said a salesman at one of the stores. Not so long ago, an HMT watch was the best gift that one could think of to a newly-wed couple, or someone who did well in exams or a loved one leaving the city.

“HMT watches were the most sought-after till the early 1990s but lost their appeal post liberalisation. There are several factors such as lack of innovation, marketing, new models and positioning that led to the downfall,” feels Ekanthappa, Manager Sales, HMT, Marketing Division, Hyderabad. Mallikarjuna Rao, a retired teacher, reminiscences, “For the people of my generation, an ambassador car, an HMT watch and a Java motorcycle were status symbols. Today, smart phones are iconic symbols. It is sad that time is up for HMT watches.”

For the year 2012-13, the company sustained losses of Rs 242 crore and employed 1,105. An employee of HMT Bearings, a subsidiary company said, “People started relating HMT watches to hand winded mechanical watch. Several new players made their entry into the market especially post 1991 and Titan watches marched ahead.” A salesman at the Moula Ali store said, “There was a time when people had to wait for Kanchan model for days on end. It was so popular.”