HMT likely to get revival package by beginning of FY'11

MUMBAI: Public sector enterprise HMT Watches is likely to receive a revival package from the government by the beginning of the next financial year for plant upgradation and revamping marketing strategy, a top company official said.

"We have already submitted a revival plan to the government and we expect to get the package by the beginning of FY'11. We then plan to strongly focus on marketing and brand-building of our watches," HMT Watches Managing Director S Paulraj told PTI here without divulging further details.

It is, however, understood that the package would be somewhere in the range of Rs 700-750 crore and the company could break-even by end-FY 11 with its help, he said.

With an eye on the rural market, the Bangalore-based mini-ratna plans to enhance its marketing set-up and launch advertising campaigns for wider publicity, besides roping in new dealers this year.

"We want to strengthen our brand in the rural market, where bigger brands such as Titan are not present (in a big way). We see a huge potential in the smaller cities. HMT still has a good image and we want to leverage this," Paulraj said.

HMT will invest on brand-building this year, including in advertising, he said.