 "HMT watches")
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) at 2007 pay scales for employees of HMT Watches Ltd, HMT Chinar Watches Ltd and HMT Bearings Ltd, thus completing their closure formalities and bringing the curtains down on one of the iconic brands of pre-liberalisation days.
"The movable and immovable assets of the companies will be disposed of as per government policy," an official statement released on Wednesday said.
HMT Watches Ltd has been incurring losses since 2000 and all its units were closed down in 2014. However, late last year, the Ranibag (Uttarakhand) unit of HMT Watches opened briefly to complete a pending order of 5,500 watches received from its Bengaluru office.
The order is expected to be completed by March 2016.
In its heydays, HMT was the premier watch brand in the country. Meanwhile, the Centre has granted an assistance of Rs 427.48 crore for the three loss-making subsidiaries of HMT Ltd.
