Divamani Enterprises

HMT Limited was earlier known as Hindustan Machine Tools Limited. It is a Central Public Sector Enterprise. It was incorporated on 7th February, 1953 by the Government of India for machine tool manufacturing. Later, HMT went into production of watches and other products. It is headquartered in Bengaluru. It has manufacturing units in Bengaluru (Karnataka), Pinjore (Haryana), Kalamassery (Ernakulam), Hyderabad (2 units) in the state of Telangana and Ajmer (Rajasthan). The assembly and sale of watches is managed by the HMT Auxiliary Business Division at Bengaluru. This division released 3 new series of watches to mark the 69th Foundation day of HMT on 7th February, 2021.

The watch factory was established in 1961-62 in collaboration with Citizen Watch Co., Japan. They were the first manufacturers of wrist watches in the country. They were also the first to launch India’s first automatic Day-Date watch, first quartz watch, first braille watch, first Ana-Digi watch etc. The very first batch of hand wound wrist watches called HMT Janata was released by the Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. There was a patriotic pride attached to purchasing watches from this company. Made in India in every way, it had an amazing presence across the country.

In the 1970’s , it established two more units for manufacture of watches, one at Srinagar and one at Tumkur (1978). By 1975, it had managed to make all components of the watches in-house. In the 1980’s HMT launched units to manufacture watches at Ranibagh(1985) and Bengaluru(1983).

Since 1985, it was actively into making of Floral Clocks, Solar Clocks, International Clocks, Master-Slave Clocks and Tower Clocks. There is also a clock called Garden clock at Bangalore which is very interesting for visitors everyday. As per the company website, HMT clocks are designed using state of the art technology for accurate and error free performance under extreme weather conditions.

Tower Clock is still available for sale on the HMT official website. These are ‘larger than life’ clocks ideally suited to building structures, gardens, railways and traffic junctions.

The floral clock also called the garden clock, located in Lalbaug Botanical Gardens in Bengaluru is a giant working clock set at the centre of a bed of flowers. This was donated by HMT and has a rare plant species. Diameter of this clock is about 7 metres. The clock hands are maintained by an electronic oscillator and are decorated with seasonal flowers.

In the 1970s and 1980s, this company was in its heyday. It controlled almost 90% of Indian watch market. Models such as Pilot, Kohinoor, Sona and Janata were highly popular. They were also used as gifts to mark occasions such as graduations, weddings and such other landmarks. It was also often the first watch to be worn by a person. The gifts for weddings included watches for the couple. The watches were passed down from generation to generation. It was also worn by soldiers in the Army, Navy and Air Force. The slogan which marked these watches ‘The timekeepers to the Nation’. It was also called ‘Desh ki Dhadkan’. A campaign was run with this slogan. Its positioning ‘helping the nation keep time.’

It was not restricted to just government departments, it became the everyday watch for millions in India. The watches were mechanical, simple to use and built as a sturdy product for everyday use. At this time, to get an HMT watch, one had to put their name on the waitlist and the waiting period could stretch for months. Some accounts suggest that you needed a ration card to book an HMT watch. Demand always outstripped supply. The Janata watch became synonymous with passing an examination. If a boy/girl was wearing this, it meant that they had passed their SSC (10th standard) exam.

The gold-plated HMT Kanchan became a a special gift for weddings. It also became notorious as a ‘dowry watch’. What really connected to people was the everyday Indian names such as Vijay, Kedar, Rajat, Sona, Kanchan making the watches personal.. There were also special editions which would mark national jubilees and cultural milestones. This was a deliberate strategy. One of the staff members had even mentioned that all the staff would come together and write out the names on paper. One of the names would be pulled out from the pool, which became the name for the watch. This made the watches personal. Many buyers looked out for watches with their names.

The Pilot had large and legible numerals which was the favourite in the nation. Tareeq was another popular mechanical variety which contained both date and day.

Once quartz watches were started, the names changed. They just had the HMT logo and were simply numbered as per the international norms.

In the 1990’s, the company was restructured into five business groups – one of which was for watches. By 1994, it had posted its first loss and by 2013-14, the losses had grown substantially.

When Tata group entered the market and began commercial production in 1987, they focused on quartz watches which were smaller, more accurate and cheaper to produce on a large scale. They also branded themselves as fashion accessories rather than one-time investment. HMT stuck with its mechanical roots. Year after year, it was losing market share. When India was liberalised in 1990s, watches from abroad started flooding the Indian market This further weakened HMT since it just could not compete with others.

The connection that HMT built, the emotional attachment that those watches could give to a person could never be replicated by other watches. It also represented a period of history.

Apparently, the decision to close this division was taken by the Government of India in 2016 and officially this division has been legally closed on 2nd March, 2026.

However, interestingly, there were reports in several newspapers in 2026 about HMT watches – they had clocked Rs.35 lakh sale in one day on Independence Day. The queues for purchase of these watches in the HMT outlet in Bengaluru stretched for two kilometres. There was also a huge demand for the more than 2,000 limited-edition pieces which were sold off within hours. A special edition called the Gandaberunda edition, named so based on Karnataka’s emblem – two headed bird, was the first to sell out completely.

The subsidiary business company may be closed but the watch business is now being managed directly by HMT Limited. The brand still survives. The moot questions: is the new generation moving back towards analog rather than digital? or is it that the watch itself has a special appeal? or is it the engineering behind it? or is it about the India that once wore this?

It could be said that vintage appeal is certainly part of the deal. But it was so simple to use and had a mechanical movement. It became a part of everyday life.

HMT watches have not vanished forever. They are very much alive as a collector’s item. There are collectors with 800 watches or more.

Interestingly, it was the Union Minister of Heavy Industries who announced that HMT had sold Rs.35 lakh worth of watches on Independence day in 2026. He further mentioned that the response has strengthened their resolve to revive the company. Further, he stated that there was a time when owning an HMT watch was a matter of pride and prestige. His aim- to bring back that glory.

There is a museum in a suburb in Bengaluru opened by the company called the HMT Heritage Centre and Museum. This contains not only the legendary ‘Wall of Watches’ which is a floor to ceiling vault containing every model created till date. Opposite this are the old photographs and classic print ads when timepieces were cherished. All the mechanics which once were part of the watch is also displayed in a separate gallery.

There are serious efforts being made to revive this company’s watch division. I am sincerely hoping it will be a successful revival. This watch has been the original Make in India brand with strong emotional connect and many decades of memories attached. The look and feel of these watches can probably be never garnered by any other watch of today.