HMT Limited

Last updated

HMT Limited
FormerlyHindustan Machine Tools Limited
Company type Public
BSE:  500191
NSE:  HMT
Industry
Founded7 February 1953;71 years ago (1953-02-07) [1]
Founder Government of India
Headquarters59, Bellary Road,
Bangalore, Karnataka
,
India
Key people
S. Girish Kumar (Chairman & MD) [2]
Products
  • Machine tools
  • Printing machinery
  • Food processing machinery
  • Watches
  • Tractors
  • Bearings [3]
RevenueIncrease2.svg₹32.10 crore (US$3.8 million) (2018)
Increase2.svg₹3.67 crore (US$440,000) (2018)
Increase2.svg₹−7.164 crore (US$−860,000) (2018)
Total assets Decrease2.svg₹927.48 crore (US$110 million) (2018)
Total equity Decrease2.svg₹100.29 crore (US$12 million) (2018)
Owner Government of India (93.68%) [4]
Number of employees
1,742 [1]  (2018)
Subsidiaries
  • HMT Machine Tools Limited (100%)
  • HMT International Limited (100%)
  • Praga Tools Limited (51%)
  • Closed subsidiaries:
  • HMT Watches Limited (100%)
  • HMT Chinar Watches Limited (100%)
  • HMT Bearings Limited (97.25%) [5]
Website www.hmtindia.com

HMT Limited, formerly Hindustan Machine Tools Limited, is an Indian state-owned electronics company under the control of the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. [6] It was founded in 1953 as a machine tool manufacturing company, diversifying into watches, tractors, printing machinery, metal forming presses, die casting and plastic processing machinery, and CNC systems and bearings. HMT is headquartered at Bangalore.

Contents

The watch making division, HMT Watches, opened in 1961. During the 1970s and 1980s HMT was the largest supplier of wrist watches in India, with popular styles including Janata and Pilot. The division closed in 2016, largely due to mismanagement leading to heavy losses. [7] [8] In the same year, the Government of India also shut down HMT Chinar Watches Ltd., HMT Bearings, and HMT Tractors. HMT Machine Tools Limited still manufactures industrial machines and tools with a work force of around 2,500 in six manufacturing units situated at Bangalore (Mother unit), Kochi, Hyderabad (2 units), Pinjore and Ajmer. [9] These mostly serve India's defence, government and educational institutions. [10]

HMT's wholly owned subsidiaries include HMT Machine Tools Limited and HMT International Limited. HMT also holds a majority stake in Praga Tools Limited (51%). [5]

History

Hindustan Machine Tools was incorporated in 1953 by the Government of India as a machine tool manufacturing company. Over the years, HMT diversified into watches, tractors, printing machinery, metal forming presses, die casting and plastic processing machinery, and CNC systems and bearings. HMT is headquartered in Bengaluru (Bangalore).

Technology was absorbed in all product groups through collaborations with world-renowned manufacturers and further strengthened by continuous in-house R&D.

Today, HMT consists of six subsidiaries under the ambit of a holding company, which also manages the tractor business directly.

HMT Limited took over Praga Tools Limited as one of its subsidiaries 1988. [11] Praga Tools Limited was established in May 1943 as Praga Tools Corporation Limited to manufacture machine tools with its headquarters at Secunderabad. It was renamed as Praga Tools Limited in 1963. It is mainly involved in the manufacturing of machine tools, including CNC machines.

Watch division

HMT Janata HMT Janata.jpg
HMT Janata

HMT set up a watch manufacturing factory in Bangalore in collaboration with Citizen Watch, a Japanese company, in 1961. The first batch of mechanical (hand wound) wrist watches manufactured here was released by the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. The most popular mechanical watch was HMT Janata. Other mechanical watch styles included HMT Pilot, HMT Jhalak (Semi Skeletal), HMT Sona, HMT Braille.

In 1972, HMT expanded its watch manufacturing capacity with a set up alongside the Bangalore Factory to manufacture additional watches. In 1975, the watch factory at Bangalore was further expanded to manufacture main spring, hair spring and shock absorber components. [12] HMT set up additional manufacturing facilities to produce watch components sets at Tumkur in 1978 and at Ranibagh in 1985. The factory at Tumkur was partially converted to manufacture quartz analog watches in collaboration with Citizen. To cater to the niche market, a specialised watch case manufacturing facility was set up at Bangalore in 1983. [12]

Since 1985, HMT Watches had been involved in making floral clocks, solar clocks, international clocks and tower clocks, most popular among them being the garden clock at Lal Bagh in Bangalore. In the year 2000, HMT Watch Business group was re-structured as HMT Watches Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of HMT Limited. [12]

In September 2014, the Government of India shut down HMT operations in a phased manner. By late 2016, the website for HMT watches was taken down. [13]

Takeover

In September 2016, the Government of India closed some divisions of HMT: HMT Watches Ltd, HMT Bearings, HMT Tractors, and HMT Chinar Watches Ltd. The main reasons were that the company was making losses for more than a decade. During 2012–13, the company had losses of ₹242 crore on revenues of only ₹11 crore. In contrast, competitor Titan's watch business reported sales of ₹1,675 crore during the same year. The government also tried restructuring it in 1999 to improve its finances but the company continued to make losses. While in the 1980s several new companies entered the market with newer designs and more modern production techniques, HMT is said to have been hobbled by slow decision making and was unable to compete. [14] Machine tools divisions of HMT in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi (Kalamassery) are still operational and catering industrial and defence sectors of India and abroad. The Government of India is mulling takeover of HMT by Ordnance Factory Board. [15] [16]

Operating units

HMT 1811 tractor HMT 1811 tractor, Pondicherry.jpg
HMT 1811 tractor

HMT Limited had 18 manufacturing units. The constituent subsidiaries are given below while the holding company retains the tractors business group.

HMT's tractor business commenced its operations in 1971 in technical collaboration with Zetor through a licensing deal with Motokov, the export trading arm of Czechoslovakia. [17] HMT started the operation with the manufacture of the 25 HP Zetor 2511 tractor at the manufacturing plant in Pinjore, Haryana state. Over the years, it has developed tractors ranging from 25 HP to 75 HP.

Machine tools divisions of HMT is still continuing its operations and introducing state of the art technologies in Indian industrial market. The Kochi unit has entered manufacturing equipments for Indian Naval defence sector by manufacturing Directing Gear systems. [18] [19]

HMT Milestones
1953Machine Tools IBengaluruKarnataka
1961Machine Tools IIBengaluruKarnataka
1962Watch Factory IBengaluruKarnataka
1963Machine Tools IIIPinjoreHaryana
1965Machine Tools IVKalamasseryKerala
1967Machine Tools VHyderabadAndhra Pradesh
1971Tractor DivisionPinjoreHaryana
1971Die Casting DivisionBengaluruKarnataka
1972Printing Machinery DivisionKalamasseryKerala
1972Watch Factory IIBengaluruKarnataka
1973Precision Machinery DivisionBengaluruKarnataka
1975Machine Tools VIAjmerRajasthan
1975HMT (International) Ltd.BengaluruKarnataka
1975Watch Factory IIISrinagarJammu & Kashmir
1978Watch Factory IVTumkurKarnataka
1981HMT Bearings LimitedHyderabadAndhra Pradesh
1981Quartz Analog WatchesBengaluruKarnataka
1982Watch Factory VRanibaghUttar Pradesh
1982Specialised Watch Case DivisionBengaluruKarnataka
1983Stepper Motor DivisionTumkurKarnataka
1985Ball Screw DivisionBengaluruKarnataka
1986CNC Systems DivisionBengaluruKarnataka
1991Central Re-conditioning DivisionBengaluruKarnataka

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindustan Motors</span> Car manufacturing company in India

Hindustan Motors is an Indian automotive manufacturer based in Kolkata. It is a part of the Birla Technical Services conglomerate. Hindustan Motors was the largest car manufacturer in India before the rise of Maruti Udyog. Hindustan Motors manufactured the Ambassador and Landmaster motorcars, both immensely popular Indian automobiles from 1957 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titan Company</span> Indian multinational jeweller and watchmaker

Titan Company Limited is an Indian company that mainly manufactures fashion accessories such as jewellery, watches and eyewear. Part of the Tata Group and started as a joint venture with TIDCO, the company has its corporate headquarters in Electronic City, Bangalore, and registered office in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

Eicher Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive company that manufactures motorcycles and commercial vehicles, headquartered in New Delhi. Eicher is the parent company of Royal Enfield, a manufacturer of middleweight motorcycles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larsen & Toubro</span> Indian multinational conglomerate company

Larsen & Toubro Limited, abbreviated as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate, with interests in industrial technology, heavy industry, engineering, construction, manufacturing, power, information technology, military and financial services. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BEML</span> Indian heavy equipment manufacturer

BEML Limited, formerly Bharat Earth Movers Limited, is an Indian public sector undertaking which manufactures a variety of heavy equipment, such as that used for earth moving, railways, transport and mining. It is headquartered in Bangalore. BEML is Asia's second-largest manufacturer of earth moving equipment. Its stock trades on the National Stock Exchange of India under the symbol "BEML", and on the Bombay Stock Exchange under the code "500048".

Mahindra Gujarat Tractors Limited, is a Farm Tractor manufacturer now part of Mahindra & Mahindra from the Government of Gujarat in 1999. It the oldest running tractor unit in India. The Mahindra Group has a 60% stake, the remaining 40% being held by the Government of Gujarat. Its best selling models is Hindustan 60. The tractors are now sold under Sakthimaan and Trakstar brand names. It was renamed as Gromax Agri Equipment Ltd. in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zbrojovka Brno</span> Czech firearm and vehicle manufacturer

Zbrojovka Brno, s.r.o is a maker of small arms in Brno, Czech Republic, wholly owned by Colt-CZ Group. In the past it also made light artillery, cars, motorcycles, tractors and various tools, such as typewriters and early computers.

Pinjore is a town in Panchkula district in the Indian state of Haryana. This residential 'township', located close to Panchkula, Chandigarh, is set over 1,800 feet above the sea level in a valley, overlooking the Sivalik Hills. Pinjore is known for Pinjore Gardens, Asia's best 17th Century Mughal garden, and the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) factory.

Mahindra & Mahindra is an Indian automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, M&M is one of the largest vehicle manufacturers by production in India. Its unit, Mahindra Tractors, is the largest manufacturer of tractors in the world by volume. It was ranked 17th on a list of top companies in India by Fortune India 500 in 2018. Its major competitors in the Indian vehicular market include Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors. Dr. Anish Shah is the current CEO and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tractors in India</span> Overview of Indian tractor industry

Tractors in India are a major industry and significant contributor to its agriculture output gains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eterna</span> Swiss luxury watch company

Eterna is a Swiss watch company founded in Grenchen, Canton Solothurn, on 7 November 1856 by Josef Girard and Urs Schild. The company is now owned by Hong Kong–based Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited, an investment holding company formerly known as China Haidian Holdings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited</span> Tractor manufacturer in Chennai, India

Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE) is an Indian agricultural machinery manufacturer based in Chennai, India. TAFE is one of the largest tractor manufacturer in the world and the second largest in India by volume.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escorts Kubota Limited</span> Indian multinational automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate

Escorts Kubota Limited, formerly Escorts Limited, is an Indian multinational conglomerate that operates in the sectors of agricultural machinery, construction machinery, material handling, and railway equipment. Its headquarters are located in Faridabad, Haryana. The company was launched in 1944 and has marketing operations in more than 40 countries. Escorts manufactures tractors, automotive components, railway equipment, and construction and material handling equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praga Tools</span> Subsidiary of HMT Ltd.

Praga Tools Limited is an Indian company headquartered at Kavadiguda, Secunderabad, Telangana. It is mainly involved in manufacture of machine tools including CNC machines. It is one of the Defense Public Sector Undertakings.

Hyderabad Allwyn Limited, established in 1942, was a Hyderabad State government engineering and white goods manufacturing company involved in manufacture of automobiles, trucks, scooters, bus coach building, refrigerators and wrist watches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V-Guard Industries</span> Indian electric appliances company

V-Guard Industries Ltd is an Indian electricals and home appliances manufacturer, headquartered in Kochi. The company manufactures voltage stabilizers, electrical cable, electric pumps, electric motors, geysers, solar water heaters, electric fans and UPSs. It was founded in 1977 by Kochouseph Chittilappilly as a small voltage stabilizer manufacturing unit.

Vellore, located in Tamil Nadu, India, has a diversified economy, primarily based in leather processing, shoe manufacturing, automobile assembly, precision tool milling, explosive materials production, and the service industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Heavy Industries</span> Union ministry of Government of India

The Ministry of Heavy Industries is an executive agency of the Government of India. The Ministry entails for promoting the engineering industry viz. machine tools, heavy electrical, industrial machinery, and auto industry and administration of 40 operating Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and 4 autonomous organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranipet district</span> District of Tamil Nadu in India

Ranipet district is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu, India, formed by trifurcating Vellore district. The Government of Tamil Nadu announced its proposal on 15 August 2019, together with Tirupattur district, and it was officially declared on 28 November 2019 by Tamil Nadu Government. The town of Ranipet is the district headquarters.

The automotive industry in Hyderabad was introduced in the 1930s and manufacturing started with the establishment of Hyderabad Allwyn which used to manufacture auto-components and assemble Albion CX9 buses for Hyderabad State Railways. It was a joint venture of Industrial Development Trust of the Nizam's Hyderabad Government and M/s Allwyn & Company. Following to which Praga Tools was established in 1943 and in post independence of India; HMT bearings in 1963 and Ordnance Factory Medak in 1984 were established.

References

  1. 1 2 "Annual Report 2017–18" (PDF). HMT Limited. Retrieved 28 January 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ "Organisation". HMT Limited. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  3. ↑ "Our Products". HMT Limited. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  4. ↑ "10 stocks where Indian government owns at least 90% stake - In Focus". The Economic Times. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Holding Company". HMT Limited. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  6. ↑ "Links to the websites of Central Public Sector Enterprises under Department of Heavy Industry". Department of Heavy Industry. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  7. ↑ Rao, Mohit M. (1 April 2016). "Clock stops ticking at HMT". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Manchanda, Anil (20 January 2016). "Why HMT Watches stopped ticking". Hindu Businessline. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  9. ↑ "P r a g a T o o l s – Machines". www.pragatools.org. Archived from the original on 6 February 2002.
  10. ↑ "HMT Ltd gets 136 Crore Government Loan to revive its operations". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Taskforce on HMT-Praga Tools merger". The Hindu Business Line. 23 November 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 "History | HMT Watches". Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "HMT: Making a switch in time | Deccan Herald". 25 December 2019.
  14. ↑ "Time up: HMT Watches to wind down after 53 years" . Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  15. ↑ Upadhyay, Vineet. "HMT reopens plant to make last batch of watches". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  16. ↑ Sharma, Shantanu Nandan. "Three HMT firms may be a test case for shuttering more loss-making, non-strategic PSUs". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  17. ↑ "Zetor 75 years: 1971". Zetor s.r.o. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021.
  18. ↑ "HMT to make more hi-tech sub-systems for the Navy". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  19. ↑ "HMT all set to cement its position in defence production". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.