India’s watch industry to witness slowdown post 10 percent hike in import duty

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Feb 16, 2018

The government’s decision to increase the import duty on accessories and watches from the current 10 percent to 20 percent will severely impact the watch industry in the country, said a top company official from watch brand Seiko.
 

Amidst changing policies over the last two years, the watch industry in the country has witnessed a slowdown with first demonetisation impacting sales followed by the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
 
Now with the import duty of watches doubled, many industry players feel that the slowdown will continue and have a short term impact on the industry.

“The industry, which witnessed a slowdown in the wake of demonetisation and implementation of GST, now has to face the impact of increase in the import duty from 10 to 20 per cent, Seiko Watch India President and COO, Niladri Mazumder was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
 
Seiko is rapidly expanding its retail presence and product portfolio witnessing significant growth of 20 to 15 percent in the last decade with majority of the business coming from the South Indian market followed by North India.
 
The company is looking to hike prices of its watches post the increase in import duty in the coming months. Seiko also recently launched Presage collection which included nine watches and plans to unveil another exclusive collection for women in March this year.