VisionPlus India

years later. With the market being completely of mineral lenses, Tata ventured into this innovative 1.5 index material being the pet project of Dr Freddie Mehta Chairman of the Group, and setting up a formidable team across India. The product was ahead of time though and profitability took a beating for the high capital investment that went in for setting up the plant which had to shut down. The GKB family through their different business entities were the other early entrants in Rx labs besides Techtran in mass casting in Hyderabad. Macro Lens and Prakash Plastics were other casters then though on a limited scale while Lawrence and Mayo were an integrated retailer with Rx lab. There were also a few handfuls of independent labs like Reflect, Delta, and Suprol to name some. Subsequently SRF Ltd and then joined hands with Essilor International set up the marketing JV in India in 1998 and cast JV with Essilor and Sola along with SRF. The JV structure was quite unique at that time The ownership changed over the period later, but the solid foundation was thus laid. Hoya and Zeiss also set their footprints in India around the same time. Plastic lenses today form more than 85% of the spectacle lenses market in India with coatings and other offerings, different indices, and creating value in the marketplace. The journey has been very cherishing thanks to the support of the opticians in the country and while many new entrants have come in and companies like Lenskart have set their international footprint with the acquisition of Own Days besides their own in India and globally, the one to watch would be the profitability in the retail in India. With rentals going IN INDIA'S DYNAMIC OPTICAL MARKET, ADAPTABILITY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND THE UPCOMING E-COMMERCE POLICY ARE KEY FACTORS SHAPING THE INDUSTRY'S FUTURE 31 VISION PLUS INDIA EDITION