December 12: Hindustan Tin Works Ltd, one of the largest canmakers in India, this week celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Manufacturer of a range of cans for food and industrial products, and more recently a partner in the setting up of India’s first beverage can plant, the predecessor of the company was established in 1958 at Ghaziabad, east of New Delhi.

Sales are now almost US$50 million a year.

Chief executive Sanjay Bhatia (right), whose father set up the company, joined in 1975 and two years later it bought the nearby Hindustan Tin Works Ltd (HTW), which had been set up to make 15-kilo cans used in the edible oil industry, along with its name.