Sikkim Time Corporation Limited (SITCO) is one of the first industrial units to be set up in Sikkim. India’s 22^nd state. The Sikkim Government set it up in February 1977 in technical collaboration with HMT of India for the assembly of watches. Starting with 25 workers and an assembly for mechanical watches, SITCO today has a staff of over 350 people and four units producing quality mechanical watches, semi- conductors, trendy digital / analog watches and top class watch crowns.

Situated in the beautiful capital town of Gangtok, SITCO symbolizes the success story of the industrial experiment in Sikkim. In its 20 years of existence, it has grown from strength to strength, flourishing with the many advantages Sikkim has to offer, thus proving that industrial units, ranging from labor- intensive to fully automated and horological to electronic, can prosper in Sikkim

SITCO prides itself on its stringent quality control, and one of the major contributions to its success has been its unwavering insistence on perfection. Each product that leaves STICO has been checked and rechecked at ever stage using sophisticated equipment.

SITCO now has four units assembling or producing mechanical watches, watch crowns small signal devices and digital / analog watches.

Mechanical watches: The Watch Assembly Unit Assembles HMT mechanical watches of the highest quality and precision. Being SITCO’s first, it is the flagship unit and occupies pride of place. This unit is housed in a beautifully designed building with all modern and essential facilities. Though this unit has a capacity of assembling only 250,000 watches per year, it has even achieved a production of 600,000. The assembly process adopted here is that of the Citizen Watch Company of Japan, which ensures that at every stage in the assembly, a high standard of quality is maintained.

Watch crowns: In 1984, SITCO started manufacturing stainless steel watch crowns. Besides being used in the watches assembled at SITCO, these crowns are also supplied to HMT and other major Indian watch manufacturers.

Small signal devices: The Semi- conductor Unit of SITCO was set up in 1988 in technical collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) of Bangalore, India for the manufacture of transistors in TO-92 and TO237 packages. This automated plant at SITCO has state-of-the- art machinery & is manned by skilled staff. The unit started production from June 8, 1988 & has been doing remarkably well. In its second year of production, it produced 37 million devices against the plant capacity of 35 million. The fact that nearly 50% of these devices are exported underlines the international standards of quality that SITCO has adopted.

Digital/Analog watches: SITCO’s Digital watch Unit was inaugurated on August 13, 1993. Over the years, the concept of a watch as a toll for indicating the time has changed to that of fashion wear, especially among the younger generation. This has given rise to a whole new market for inexpensive & fashionable watches. The Digital Watch Unit at SITCO was established to cater to this growing market. It has build-in capacity of 500,000 watches per year & has modern facilities and the latest instruments & equipment.