Swatch is also likely to take a strategic decision on manufacturing and assembling watches in India soon. ``The next two months will be crucial for us. In November, we'll have a strategic announcement,'' said Ravi Thakran, regional general manager, South Asia, Swatch Group, while speaking to The Financial Express at the launch of the Tissot brand, today.

He also disclosed that Tissot would promote cricket in a big way in the country. The brand has also signed on cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin as its brand ambassador. Tissot will be lending support to the cricketacademy being set up by Azharuddin in Hyderabad.

The company recently got an FIPB approval to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India in which it plans to invest about Rs 11 crore. The Group has already launched the entire range of its luxury line of watches which include brands like Blancpain, Omega, Rado and Longines, in India.

With the launch of the Tissot range, the watch major is now targeting the entry slab of the premium segment. Tissot will be sold through 150 leading multi-brand watch retailers all over the country. Swatch has appointed two distributors--Sugam Precision (P) Ltd in Delhi to support retailers in the North and the East, and Designers Watches (P) Ltd in Mumbai for the South and West.

The brand will essentially, be in direct competition with Titan which has a widespread retail network and a range at the top-end which overlaps with Tissot price points. ``Tissot will be competing with Titan whose range is priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 9,000,'' admits the Delhi-based distributorHarsh Parwal of Sugam Precision.

Nevertheless, in the current 40 million watches market--of which 25 million are priced below Rs 1,000--Tissot will focus more on the top slot. According to Thakran, the Rs 3,000-Rs 10,000 price segment is vacant at the moment, since less than one per cent of Titan's watches are priced above Rs 3,000.

Significantly, the Group has marked India among the three strategic markets for Tissot besides China and Japan. The company expects India to contribute a quarter of its annual global sales in the first year itself--Tissot sold about one million units globally, in calender 1998.