As newspaper reports show, the Bata company was running a store in the country as early as 1927. Several years after the Second World War, an affiliated company was registered and a factory as well as a network of stores were established here. The company operates in the country to this day.
- In 1927, Bata shoes were sold in a corporate store located in Colombo.
- In 1937, the Bata company owned rubber plantations on the island.
- On 9 June 1950, the affiliated company Bata Shoe Company of Ceylon Limited was registered.
- In September 1950, the Bata company brought machinery and instructors to Sri Lanka with the aim of establishing a Bata-owned shoe factory; two buildings were acquired for this purpose (one purchased, and another one rented); in March 1951, the production of rubber shoes was launched.
- The number of employees gradually increased from 58 people (in 1951) to 108 (in 1954) and to 116 (in 1956).
- In 1954, the production of rubber shoes was moved to a new factory — Ratamalana, situated to the south of Colombo; in 1955, 127,000 pairs of rubber shoes were produced here, which was 42.4% of the entire production in the country.
- In the spring of 1956, the production range was expanded to include leather shoes.
- In 1956, the actual sale resumed by opening a store (with 8 employees) in the country; the number of stores had increased to 48 by 1959.
- In 1992, the Bata Ceylon – Mount Lavinia company was operating in the country.
Sources:
- Z. Pokluda – J. Herman – M. Balaban, Baťa na všech kontinentech, Zlín 2020, ISBN 978-80-7454-928-1
- Jaroslav Pospíšil – Hana Pospíšilová, Rub a líc baťovských sporů, Zlín 2012, ISBN 978-80-7473-037-5
- Thomas J. Bata, Remmembered, Zlín 2016, ISBN 978-80-7473-398-7
- Moravský zemský archiv v Brně – Státní okresní archiv Zlín, Česko
- Podnikový archiv Bata, Batanagar, India