Titan eyewear division to ramp up Bangalore unit

The eyewear division of Titan Industries Ltd is expanding its lens manufacturing unit in Chikkaballapur, Bangalore. The company is also planning to more than double its Titan Eye Plus multibrand eyewear shops to 500 from the current 204 in next couple of years.

“The capacity of the Bangalore facility will be increased to another 400-500 lens a day in another two to three months,” said Jagannath N, head – manufacturing and supply chain management, eyewear division, Titan Industries Ltd. The company, which announced setting up of its lens manufacturing unit in Bangalore with an investment of Rs 12 crore in 2010, currently has a capacity to produce around 1,000 lens a day.

“It is a continuous process of expansion in line with our growth. This particular capacity expansion would have seen an incremental investment of around Rs 5 crore,” said Jagannath. The company's Chikkaballapur facility is spread over 20,000 sft, with space for future expansions, he added.

With around 204 Titan Eye Plus outlets now across the country, the company is targeting to increase it to 250 by September and to 500 outlets in a couple of years. It currently has presence in around 22 states.

The outlets include the small format Spexx stores, eyewear outlets attached to hospitals and clinics. At present, it has around 10 Spexx stores and sees potential in the business model. He said the company was open to tie-up with organised hospital chains for the business.

The company on Monday announced the launch of its 16th store in Chennai, taking the number in south India to 67. It has plans to add four to five more outlets in Chennai, said Jagannath.