H D Kumaraswamy has often spoken about reviving the ailing Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) over the last couple of months. He also appears keen on bringing HMT’s watch division back from the dead. In July this year, in Mandya, the union minister for heavy industries and steel lamented the fading out of India’s first watch brand.
Earlier this month, on the occasion of the Gauri Ganesha festival , the minister reportedly bought two HMT watches, one of which he gifted to his son, JD (S) youth wing president Nikhil. Gyaneshwar Patil, the BJP MP from Khandwa, in Madhya Pradesh , is also reported to have gifted Kumaraswamy a pair of HMT watches. (While HMT Watches was liquidated in 2016, it is currently run as part of the Auxiliary Business Division and assembles rather unremarkable products.
) (Also read: Best Sonata watches for women in India: Top 10 sophisticated picks that combine elegance and style for every occasion ) We don’t know how far the latest revival plan will go, or the direction it will take, but all this talk about PSUs and watches and revival packages made this reporter take a closer look at the fate of other nationalised watchmakers across the world. How many of these entities still survive? Has the phoenix risen from the ashes elsewhere and if so, what gave it wings? Watchmaking has been driven by private investment since 1735, when Blancpain, the world’s oldest watch company , was set up. The only exception to this rule was engineered by political and econ.
