Indian Economy News

Titan invests Rs 40 crore to locally manufacture eyewear frames

Bengaluru: Watch maker Titan Co. Ltd has invested Rs.40 crore to locally manufacture eyewear frames to cut its dependence on Chinese imports, said a top executive at the company’s eye-wear division.

With local manufacturing and design, the company hopes to reduce time taken to launch new products and gain from savings on import duties.

“Everyone imports the same frames from China and they all end up looking the same,” said Ronnie Talati, chief executive officer of the company’s nine-year-old eye wear division Titan Eyeplus that registered a revenue of Rs.361 crore for the year ended 31 March 2015. The facility in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka, will be operational by August.

“Chinese imports are also getting more pricey,” Talati added.

Titan has also planned investments of Rs.15 crore in three lens manufacturing units in Madhyamgram, near Kolkata (already operational), an upcoming one in Noida and another planned on the outskirts of Mumbai, to broad-base its procurement of locally produced lenses.

The company is also building a new in-house design unit—another first, as it seeks to compete more aggressively in a market where shoppers are upgrading eye wear annually, as opposed to an earlier norm of once in three-four years.

We are seeing “multiple upgradation in the category,” Talati added, “we have to keep up with designs.”

Talati was speaking at a company event to announce a new brand identity for Titan Eyeplus, the company’s third largest business division after Jewellery and watches.

Talati, who became the head of the eyewear division in July, was previously chief marketing officer of the watches and accessories business.

New stores will be more compact, with fittings and fixtures designed by Foley Designs, a Bengaluru-based design firm. Displays will vary from categories such as women’s wear, fashion and sports.

Investments for upgrading the look and feel per store could vary from Rs.15-20 lakh. Titan and its franchisees will incur costs on its 400 stores, of which Titan owns over 25%. Additionally, “every new store will be in this format as progressively all stores will undergo these changes,” Talati added.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

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