Timex to set up plant in Baddi, HP, to produce 3 mln units

New Delhi, May 2 (UNI) Timex Watches Ltd today said it will set up a production unit in Baddi in Himachal Pradesh by the end of 2006, which will produce 3 million units of watches over the next three years.

''We hope to assemble as many as 3 million units of watches in the next three years in Baddi. This plant will be operational by the year-end,'' Timex Asia MD and Vice-President Kapil Kapoor told UNI here on the sidelines of the launch of the new brand campaign 'Timex -- What next?' ''Our unit in Baddi will basically assemble different watch parts that will be supplied to us by our vendors in India and overseas,'' he said adding, ''At present Timex has an assembly unit in Parvanu in Himachal Pradesh which produces around 1.4 to 1.5 million units a year.'' Speaking about the investment plans, Mr Kapoor said, ''We will be spending Rs 15 crore on marketing and promotion in the next year.'' The company will also be setting up 130 factory stores all over the country in the next two years. ''At present we have 9 stores which we will expand to 130 in the next two years,'' Mr Kapoor said.

To a poser as to why the company selected Himachal for setting up two of its factories, Mr Kapoor said, ''the state excise free.'' UNI RA PV HS1455