History of Kodak India Ltd.
1973
- The Comp. was incorporated on 23rd August, 1973. The Comp. was incorporated for purpose of acquiring the business & undertaking in India of Kodak, Ltd., U.K., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Company, U.S.A. The Comp. is involved in Marketing and processing of imported Eastman colour films for motion picture industry in India as well as for professional photographers.
- Specialised products such as film & equipment for micrographics, industrial radiography, aerial photography & the graphic arts are also imported in addition to the KODAK films, both colour & black and white, for amateur & professional photographers. The Comp. also mixes & packs photographic chemicals formulated to Kodak specifications & standards.
1976
- Pursuant to a Scheme of Arrangement & Amalgamation, the entire business & undertaking in India of Kodak, Ltd., U.K. became vested in the Comp. with effect from 1st November.
- As consideration for acquisition, the Comp. allotted to Kodak, Ltd., U.K. 1,97,493 No. of equity shares of Rs 10 each at par.
1979
- Under the Confidentiality Agreement dated 11th July, between the Company & Eastman Kodak Co., U.S.A. granted to the Comp. a royalty-free non-exclusive non-transferable licence to use in the Company operations technology relating to photographic goods and services & confidential information received by Comp. from the Indian branch of Kodak, limited U.K.
- On 11th July, the Comp. entered into a trade mark licence agreement with Eastman Kodak Co., U.S.A., under which the Comp. was granted a non-exclusive non-transferable licence to use trading style as Kodak affiliated Comp. & certain trade marks of which Eastman Kodak Co. is or will be the registered proprietor in India.
- 3,02,500 shares issued [prem. Rs 6 per shares] of which 20,000 shares to Indian directors, employees & business associates, 25,000 shares to UTI & 12,500 shares to LIC were reserved & allotted. The balance 2,32,500 shares offered to the public in September 1979.
1983
- 5,00,000 Bonus Equity shares issued in prop. 1:1.
1984
- The Comp. revalued its land & buildings on 31st December. The net surplus of Rs 2,57,45,604 arising out of this was credited to capital reserves.
1985
- A letter of registration was received from the DGTD for the manufacture of 35 mm cameras.
1988
- A 35 mm cameras under the brand name 'KROMA' was launched.
- During September-October, the Comp. issued 3,02,500-14% secured convertible debentures of Rs 160 each for cash at par as rights in the proportion 1 debenture: 20 No. of equity shares [only 2,82,857 debentures taken ups]. The unsubscribed portion of 19,643 debentures was allotted on private placement basis.
- The Comp. also issued 15,125 debentures of Rs 160 each to employees [including Indian working directorss]/workers of Comp. on an equitable basis [only 920 debentures taken ups]. The balance 14,205 debentures were allowed to lapse.
- Rs 60 of face value of each debenture was to be converted into two equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 20 per shares within 6 months from the date of allotment of debentures.
- The non-convertible portion of Rs 100 of face value of each debenture was to be redeemed at par in 3 instalments at the end of 6th, 7th & 8th years from the date of allotment of debentures.
- Accordingly 6,06,840 No. of equity shares were allotted at a premium of Rs 20 per share on 1st May, 1989. Another 3,96,201 shares were allotted in May 1989 to Kodak limited U.K. at a premium of Rs 20 per share to maintain its shareholding in the Comp. at 39.5%.
1991
- RBI gave its approval for issue of 4,46,959 No. of equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 90 per share to Kodak Ltd., U.K., to cover foreign exchange cost of imported plant & machinery required for project for finishing of various photographic products.
1993
- On 30th July, the Comp. entered into an agreement to sell its land and buildings at Prabhadevi, Worli, Mumbai for a sum of Rs 11.75 crores, to appropriate authority, Income Tax department on 27th May, 1994.
- Another agreement was entered into to sell its property at Kodak House at 222 DN Road, Mumbai with Deutsche Bank AG for a total consideration of Rs 40 crores.
1995
- The Comp. became a subsidiary of Kodak limited effective from 29th September, the name of Comp. was changed from India Photographic Company Ltd., to Kodak India Ltd.
1996
- The Comp. issued on 10th May, 12,25,000 bonus equity shares in proportion 1:2.
- On 1st June, the Comp. allotted 33,16,385 new equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 194 per share to Kodak Ltd., U.K. to increase the holding from 50.54% to 74%.
1997
- The Company Consumer Imaging Business Unit launched Kodak Gold films with Colour Sharp Technology, Kodak KB 10 camera & Kodak Minilab System 52R/V-50 for film developing & printing, during the year.
- The Company Kodak Professional Business Unit launched Profoto 100 professional colour negative film. The Professional Motion Imaging Business Unit launched Vision 500T & 320T colour negative films. The Health Imaging Business Unit launched a new Medical Laser Printer [MLP 190s] for recording outputs from CT Scans & Magnetic Resonance Imaging units & Digital Archiving for Catheterisation Labs.
- As at 31st December, 51,73,625 No. of equity shares of Company were held by Kodak, Ltd., U.K.
- India has been identified as among the top 15 markets for Kodak as far as consumer imaging is concerned & that means they will be introducing & reinforcing the Comp. in all the three categories - manufacturing cameras, photographic films & services.
- Kodak has three factories - at Bangalore, Malanpur & Goa. The Goa factory has recently been commissioned for film & health imaging products.
- Kodak India announced the launch the new Kodak Gold family of films with patented color sharp [TMs] technology that delivers the best combination of colour saturation, colour accuracy & sharpness of any 35 mm colour negative consumer film currently manufactured.
1998
- The Comp. also received ISO 9002 certifications for its Bangalore and Goa plants.
- Kodak Digital Science Scanner 3500 one of scanner models being launched in India, was ideal for continuous scanning & can capture upto 5,000 documents a day with different speeds upto 75 pages per minute & also available in simplex & duplex models.
- Kodak India Ltd has set up a new division - Business Imaging Systems - which will introduce a range of scanners & CD libraries for a variety of applications.
- India, along with its parent Comp. Eastman Kodak, is setting up a company in Nepal, called Nepal Photographic Co.
1999
- The company, on October 29, entered into an agreement with Kodak Polychrome Graphics India Pvt. Ltd [KPGs] to sell & transfer the said graphic arts products business consisting of assets & liabilities of the business & intangible assets as a going concern to KPG with effect from November 1st.
- The Comp. has commissioned a plant for manufacturing colour negative paper at Hetauda, Nepal in September.
- In January 1998, Kodak set up a software product development centre in China.
- Kodak India Limited is a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak, UK which holds 74 per cent stake in the company. The remaining rests with the public.
- During the 1999-2000, the Comp. launched Kodak Picture Perfect Program, Visual Marketing Center & two new models of Kodak Large Format inkjet.
2000
- Kodak has launched the Kodak Visual Marketing Centers concept as part of its efforts to set good standards in digital display graphics and ensure standardised print quality across various applications.
- Kodak India Ltd, has announced the launch of large format 4,000 series of inkjet printers.
- Kodak India Ltd, has launched a new 35 mm consumer color negative film - Kodak Max.
- Eastman Kodak will relaunch its internet site, Kodak.com, in a bid to become the premier picture site on the Web & to draw consumers into its range of online & digital products.
- R S Mani is the new Managing Director of Kodak India.
- Kodak India limited has launched the Kodak Picture Maker.
- Kodak has introduced the Digital Science Tm Document Scanner 9520 and Document Scanner 7520 in the high-volume segment.
- Kodak has launched a sleek new camera KE60 which makes taking pictures easy & fund.
2001
- Consumer imaging major Kodak India limited is all set to launch a digital minilab called -- system 88 -- on March 23.
- Kodak Document Imaging division has announced the launch of its new Kodak i50 Scanner in India.
- In 2001, the Comp. has launched new series of LED printers and large format inkjet printers for professional applications & launched the KB 12 plus camera for consumer segment. The Comp. has also installed the first computed radiography systems in Mumbai.
2002
-Kodak unveils alkaline & carbon-zinc batteries with low prices.
-Kodak India Ltd launches its first Digital Imaging Centre in Pune.
2003
-Kodak Ltd informs that they have acquired shares of Kodak India Limited through open offer & Market purchases.
-Kodak India Ltd launches EC 100, a 35 mm camera for amateur beginners, for user-friendly features.
-Hutch tied up with Nokia & Kodak to launch the click & print MMS service.
-Kodak India has announced the launch of `photographer-on-call-programme' whereby consumers can link up directly with photographers accredited by Kodak by dialling a toll-free number
2004
-LG Electronics Inc has announced its tie up with Kodak India Ltd to provide prints on Kodak paper from images captured on LG RD 7230 CDMA video camera phones
2005
-Kodak unveils new EC300 camera
