Titan Industries to up capacity for around Rs 180 cr

The company is expanding its watch case manufacturing capacity and precision equipment manufacturing capacity for aerospace components

Titan Industries Ltd, a joint venture between Tata Group and Government of Tamil Nadu, is expanding its watch case manufacturing capacity and precision equipment manufacturing capacity for aerospace components for an investment of Rs 180 crore.

“The company expects the facilities to be ready in another 12-18 months,” said Bhaskar Bhat, managing director, Titan Industries Ltd.

The company has acquired land in Coimbatore and Hosur for the proposed plants. According to a company filing with the exchange, the company is setting up a manfuacturing plant in Coimbatore to manufacture high-end stainless steel cases with technology from Seiko Epson Corp, Japan.

Plans are also afoot to set up a capacity of 10 million cases per annum as part of its plans to increase its watch case manufacturing capacity. At present the company has a capacity to manufacture around 6 million units of watch cases so far.

“We will invest around Rs 100 crore in the watch case production facility and it is expected to be ready in 12-18 months,” said Bhat.

Another Rs 80 crore or so will go into setting up a facility for aerospace components under the comparatively newer business of precision equipment business. The company already has a facility for this and the new plant, at Hosur, would be an additional one, said Bhat. However, he added that the capacity would depend on the requirement.

According to a recent filing of the company with the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company is also in the process of tying up with more international watch brands to cater to the Indian consumers. The watches and accessories division of Titan markets some of the well-known international brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, Police and FCUK under a licensing agreement. Helios, the multi-brand watch retailer business of Titan offers around 30-35 international brands in addition to in-house brands, says the company.

In the precision engin|eering division, the company has four main business units — precision engineering components & sub-assemblies, machine building & automation solutions, tooling solutions and electronic sub-assemblies — set up with an investment of over $10 million.