From The Hindu Archives, December 25, 1975: Watch making unit in every State planned

New Delhi, Dec. 24: Proposals for setting up a unit in each State for manufacturing watches and clocks in the small-scale sector are under consideration of the Government. The demand for wrist watches in the country is expected to be 60 lakhs per annum by the end of 1978-79 and the Government has taken steps to encourage manufacture of the components of the watch industry. The proposal of a private sector unit for the manufacture of hairsprings with an annual capacity of 20 million pieces with foreign collaboration has been approved. In addition, another manufacturer has been permitted to produce three million sets of shock absorbing devices for watches with foreign collaboration. The Government is also considering a proposal of the Hindustan Machine Tools to manufacture 1.25 million sets of hairsprings, mainsprings and shock-absorbers in collaboration with a Japanese firm. There are at present seven time-piece units in regular production with a total installed capacity of 14 lakh units per annum. Production of alarm time-pieces in 1974 was estimated at 9.5 lakhs. There are five units producing clocks and their production rose to 1.69 lakhs in 1974 from 1.13 lakhs in 1971. Published - December 25, 2025 05:30 am IST

Preview: ~200 words